Improved Mechanical Property in Fiber Reinforced Plastic Composites Using Spray Coated CNTs

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes have been employed as prominent nanofillers in composite matrix systems to improve the mechanical properties as well as thermal and electrical properties. A spray coating method is being developed as an effective way to deposit carbon nanotubes onto carbon fiber fabrics with good control of network formation. Compared to conventional approaches, such as chemical vapor deposition and solvent based dispersion approach, the proposed method is simple and versatile with the potential for industrial scale-up. In this paper carbon nanotubes are dispersed in solvent with optimized fabrication experimental processing procedures and sprayed on carbon fiber fabrics. Once all the solvent has been evaporated, the coated carbon fiber fabrics are examined using scanning electron microscopy system. We fabricate carbon fiber reinforced composites using an optimized wet layer approach. Both the prepared carbon nanotube coated carbon fiber fabrics and pristine carbon fiber fabrics were used with the conventional epoxy for the composite fabrication. The enhanced mechanical properties of the composites are experimentally characterized, especially focusing on the Mode-I toughness and strength. The experimental results showed that the spray coated CNTs can significantly improve the mechanical properties of composite, especially under the Mode-I fracture load conditions.