Abstract
When the thermoplastic composites reach the service limits during the service, the recovery and utilization are the key concerns. Meanwhile, the improvement of strength, toughness and durability of epoxy resin is the effective method to prolong the service life of materials and structures. In the present paper, three kinds of thermoplastic resins (polypropylene-PP, polyamide 6-PA6 and polyether-ether-ketone-PEEK) and composites (carbon fiber-PEEK, glass fiber-PA6 and glass fiber-PP) were adopted as the fillers to reinforce and toughen the epoxy resin (Ts). The mechanical, thermal and microscopic analysis were conducted to reveal the performance improvement mechanism of Ts. It can be found that adding thermoplastic resin and composite fillers at the low mass ratio of 0.5~1.0% brought about the maximum improvement of tensile strength (7~15%), flexural strength (7~15%) and shear strength (20~30%) of Ts resin. The improvement mechanism was because the addition of thermoplastic fillers can prolong the cracking path and delay the failure process through the load bearing of fiber, energy absorption of thermoplastic resin and superior interface bonding. In addition, the thermoplastic composite had better enhancement effect on the mechanical/thermal properties of Ts resin compared to thermoplastic resin. When the mass ratio was increased to 2.0~3.0%, the agglomeration and stress concentration of thermoplastic filler in Ts resin appeared, leading to the decrease of mechanical and thermal properties. The optimal addition ratios of thermoplastic resin were 0.5~1.0% (PEEK), 1.0~2.0% (PA6) and 0.5~1.0% (PP) to obtain the desirable property improvement. In contrast, the optimal mass ratios of three kinds of composite were determined to be 0.5~1.0%. Application prospect analysis indicated adding the thermoplastic resin and composite fillers to Ts resin can promote the recycling and reutilization of thermoplastic composites and improve the performance of Ts resin, which can be used as the resin matrix, interface adhesive and anti-corrosion coating.
Highlights
Polymers has been widely used in aerospace, automation, civil engineering, marine engineering and other fields [1–5]
The design of optimal thermoplastic filler was proposed based on the performance improvement
The polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) were adopted as the thermoplastic resin filler, and carbon fiber reinforced polyether-ether-ketone (CF/polyether ether ketone resin (PEEK)) and glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (GF/polypropylene resin (PP)) and polyamide 6 (GF/PA6) prepreg tape were adopted as the thermoplastic composite fillers
Summary
Polymers has been widely used in aerospace, automation, civil engineering, marine engineering and other fields [1–5]. Thermoplastic resin has excellent fracture toughness, moisture, thermal and fatigue resistances [16,17] It can be recycled and does not pollute the environment, which has gradually achieved great application potential in structural engineering application [18]. The mechanical/interfacial reinforcing, toughening and durability improvement of thermosetting epoxy resin [19,20] through adding some nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and thermoplastic particles, and the recycling of thermoplastic resin are two main problems to be solved. Haeri et al [29] prepared the silica-functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets and analyzed the its enhancement effect on the mechanical properties of epoxy They observed that when 1 wt.% of the silica modified nanosheets was added to the epoxy, the tensile strength, storage modulus, cross-linking density and glass transition temperature (Tg) of epoxy were remarkably increased. The main object of present work is to improve the performances of epoxy and the recycling application of thermoplastic resin, which promote the development of material, environment and economy
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