Novel Hybrid Nanostructures of Carbon Nanotube/Fullerene-like Tungsten Disulfide as Reinforcement for Aramid Fabric Composites

Abstract

Multilayered composites based on aramid fabrics are widely used in impact protection. The objective of this study is creating a new kind of multiaxial aramid fabric composites with inorganic fullerene-like tungsten disulfide nanoparticles (IF-WS2) and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) used as nanoreinforcement to enhance the dynamic mechanical and anti-stabbing properties of the composites. The four composites of the Kolon fabric forms were impregnated with 10 wt.% poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB)/ethanol solution which contained different forms of IF-WS nanoparticles. The surfaces of IF-WS2 were coated with silane coupling agent (m-IF) and the SWCNT were oxidized (o-SWCNT) for the fabrication of the o-SWCNT/m-IF hybrid nanoparticles. The mechanical testing showed that the Kolon/PVB/o-SWCNT/m-IF sample produced nearly 62 % of improvement in the tensile strength and 51 % of improvement in the tensile energy absorption compared to the Kolon/PVB sample. Furthermore, the sample with the o-SWCNT/m-IF hybrid nanoparticles demonstrated 24 % of enhancement in the impact toughness and 48 % of improvement in the absorbed energy after knife penetration in comparison with the Kolon/PVB sample.