Modeling the interphase region in carbon nanotube‐reinforced polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes are regarded as ideal fillers for polymeric materials due to their excellent mechanical properties. Mechanical analysis without consideration of nanotube–matrix interphase, may not give precise predictions. In this work, the impacts of interphase on the behavior of polymer‐based nanocomposites are studied. For this purpose, a closed‐form micromechanical interphase model considering the diameter of nanotube, the thickness of interphase, and mechanical properties of nanotube and polymer is proposed to estimate the overall mechanical properties of nanotube‐reinforced polymer nanocomposites. Furthermore, the effective elastic constants of the nanocomposites for a wide range of diameters and volume fractions of nanotubes, evaluated via the suggested interphase model, are compared with the results of molecular dynamics simulations. Thereafter, the effects of diameter, length and volume fraction of nanotubes on the mechanical properties of nanocomposites are investigated using the suggested model. The results indicate that mechanical properties of nanocomposites are significantly influenced by the interphase. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E1219–E1234, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers