Abstract
In this research, the hierarchical carbon nanotube/carbon fibre/polyethylene (CNT/CF/PE) composites were fabricated via the conventional twin-screw extrusion technique. For this multi-component composite, 1% wt CNTs were uniformly coated onto the surface of CF by using spray coating method. The effect of CNTs and CFs as reinforcing fillers on the mechanical properties was investigated through mechanical test and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization. It has been found that with the content increase of CFs (i.e. 0% wt, 5% wt, 10% wt, 15% wt, 20% wt, 25% wt), both of tensile strength and tensile modulus exhibited an upward trend. Moreover, CF/PE composites with CNT coatings have higher mechanical performance than the counterparts without CNT coatings. The SEM results demonstrated that with the spray coating of CNTs onto CFs, the surface roughness of CFs was increased, thus contributing to the improvement of interfacial bonding between the reinforcement (CFs) and the matrix (PE).
Highlights
The main advantages of using high performance fibres as reinforcement in composite manufacturing encompass higher tensile modulus, higher strength and stiffness, and lower density
With the loading increase of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the matrix will become increasingly viscose, leading to the difficulty of efficient dispersion of CNTs into the resin and sufficient filtration of the matrix into fabric reinforcement[12].Another drawback existing in the addition of CNTs into the matrix is the limited capacity of interfacial bonding between the fibre surface and the nanoscale reinforcement
For the same percentage content of CFs, CF/PE composites with CNT coatings had higher tensile strength than the counterparts without CNT coatings
Summary
The main advantages of using high performance fibres as reinforcement in composite manufacturing encompass higher tensile modulus, higher strength and stiffness, and lower density. Numerous researches have been carried out in recent years in developing nano-engineered hierarchical composite materials where nanoscale additives (e.g. alumina, titania and silica) are finely integrated with conventional fibres[5,6,7] Of all these nanofillers, the exploitation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)—seamless cylinders of one or more layers of graphene with open or closed ends—is undoubtedly a big current interest in creating hierarchically reinforced composite structures[8]. The complicated steps and cost involved in some of these techniques largely decrease the productivity and their potential for scale-up Compared to these methods, the CNTs deposition by coating approach shows a great promise because of its easy operation and no harm to fibres (even able to heal surface defects and improve tensile properties)[19, 20]. The final nano-engineered composites will be estimated via mechanical and morphological characterizations
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