Enhancing the Mechanical Performance of Glass Fiber‐Reinforced Polymer Composites using Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Herein, the effects of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the mechanical performance of glass fiber‐reinforced polymer composites (GFRPs) are investigated, and the optimized MWCNT content is obtained through a series of experiments. MWCNTs are deposited on unidirectional glass fiber cloths using a solution dip coating method. The original fiber cloths and fiber cloths deposited with MWCNTs are used to manufacture GFRPs using a vacuum‐assisted resin injection process. The GFRP specimens are then synthesized to characterize the tension, bending, interlaminar shear strength, and mode‐II fracture toughness by uniaxial tension, three‐point bending, short beam shear, and end notch flexural tests. The results confirm that the mechanical performance of the original GFRPs increases with the addition of MWCNTs, and GFRPs with an MWCNT content of 0.3 wt% exhibit better comprehensive mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy is used to analyze the damage mechanism of the broken specimens with and without MWCNT modification.