Influence of amine functionalized multi-walled carbonnanotubes on the mechanical properties of carbonfiber/epoxy composites

Abstract

This experimental work focuses on how to develop an improved grade of Carbon fiber/epoxy compound material with superior mechanical characteristics, by adding small amounts of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into it. These composites could have potential applications in the missile and aerospace industry. Different percentages (0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2%) of amine-functionalized MWCNTs are infused into the epoxy resin (LY556). Sonicator is used to ensure good homogeneity and then hardener is added to the mixture, and then manually stirred. This mixture is finally layed upon carbon fiber mat by the wet layup process and cured in a hot press to produce the samples. Interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and three-point bending tests are performed on a UTM both on amine-functionalized and unfilled CNT C-fiber/epoxy compound. The results show that amine-functionalized MWCNTs improved the mechanical properties of C-fiber/epoxy composites. The highest improvement of 12.84% in flexural strength is obtained with 0.25% amine-functionalized MWCNT and of 11.67% in ILSS with 0.5% amine-functionalized MWCNTs. Five samples are tested amongst which the standard deviation for flexural strength is found to be minimum (3.9) in 0.25% amine CNTs and for ILSS it is minimum (1.41) in 0.5% amine CNTs. The influence of such amine functionalization produced positive overall trends among the entire mechanical qualities assessed.