Improvement in Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Composite Using Two Different Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
ABSTRACT
In this study, two types of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes were dispersed in an epoxy resin system (SC-15) at room and elevated temperatures using a combination of sonication and high shear mixing methods to determine optimal mechanical and thermal properties. At first, 0.1 wt% - 0.3 wt% of amino-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-NH2) and carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH) were dispersed in part-A of SC-15 resin using a combination method. The mixture was then added to part-B of epoxy resin and cured using two different cycles (cycle A: at room temperature for 24 hours and post-cure at 93.33?C for 4 hours, cycle B: at 65.56?C for 5 hours). In addition, control samples (without MWCNTs) were also fabricated for baseline consideration under similar conditions. In all cases, epoxy with MWCNTs showed improved performance. Improvements in properties in MWCNT/epoxy samples prepared using cycle A were comparatively lower than samples prepared with cycle B. Flexural and thermo-mechanical results demonstrated maximum improvement in 0.2 wt% MWCNT-COOH modified epoxy samples prepared using cycle B. Improvements in performance for samples cured at elevated temperatures were attributed to better dispersion of MWCNTs due to reduced viscosity. On the other hand, increased number of functional groups present in MWCNT-COOH contributed to higher crosslinking resulting in the highest observed properties.
KEYWORDS
Carbon Nanotubes; Functionalization; Flexure; Storage Modulus; Glass Transition Temperature
Carbon Nanotubes; Functionalization; Flexure; Storage Modulus; Glass Transition Temperature
Cite this paper
M. Salam, M. Hosur, S. Zainuddin and S. Jeelani, "Improvement in Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Composite Using Two Different Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes," Open Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 1-9. doi: 10.4236/ojcm.2013.32A001.
M. Salam, M. Hosur, S. Zainuddin and S. Jeelani, "Improvement in Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Composite Using Two Different Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes," Open Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 1-9. doi: 10.4236/ojcm.2013.32A001.
References
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[1] M. M. Rahman, S. Zainuddin, M. V. Hosur, J. E. Malone, M. B. A. Salam, A. Kumar and S. Jeelani, “Improvements in Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of E-Glass/Epoxy Composites Using Amino Functionalized MWCNTs,” Composite Structures, Vol. 94, No. 8, 2012, pp. 2397-2406. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.03.014 [2] G. B. I. Yakobson, G. Samsonidze and G. G. Samsonidze, “Atomistic Theory of Mechanical Relaxation in Fullerene Nanotubes,” Carbon, Vol. 38, No. 11-12, 2000, pp. 1675-1680. doi:10.1016/S0008-6223(00)00093-2 [3] B. I. Yakobson, C. J. Bracet and J. Bernholc, “Nanomechanics of Carbon Tubes: Instabilities beyond Linear Response,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 76, 1996, pp. 2511-2614. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.2511 [4] L. Guadagno, B. De Vivo, A. Di Bartolomeo, P. Lamberti, A. Sorrentino, V. Tucci, L. Vertuccio and V. Vittoria, “Effect of Functionalization on the Thermo-Mechanical and Electrical Behavior of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube/Epoxy Composites,” Carbon, Vol. 49, No. 6, 2011, pp. 1919-1930. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2011.01.017 [5] Z. Spitalsky, L. Matejka, M. Slouf, E. N. Konyushenko, J. Kovarova, J. Zemek and J. Kotek, “Modification of Carbon Nanotubes and Its Effect on Properties of Carbon Nanotube/Epoxy Nanocomposites,” Polymer Composites, Vol. 30, No. 10, 2009, pp. 1378-1387. doi:10.1002/pc.20701? [6] M. Theodore, M. Hosur, J. Thomas and S. Jeelani, “Influence of Functionalization on Properties of MWCNT/ Epoxy Nanocomposites,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 528, No. 3, 2011, pp. 1192-1200. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2010.09.095 [7] H. Mahfuz, S. Zainuddin, M. R. Parker, T. Al-Saadi, V. K. Rangari and S. Jeelani, “Reinforcement of SC-15 Epoxy with CNT/CNF under High Magnetic Field: An Investigation of Mechanical and Thermal Response,” Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 44, No. 4, 2009, pp. 1113-1120. doi:10.1007/s10853-008-3161-5 [8] F. H. Gojny, J. Nastalczyk, Z. Roslaniec and K. Schulte, “Surface Modified Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in CNT/Epoxy-Composites,” Chemical Physics Letters, Vol. 370, No. 5-6, 2003, pp. 820-824. doi:10.1016/S0009-2614(03)00187-8 [9] Y. H. Liao, O. Marietta-Tondin, Z. Liang, C. Zhang and B. Wang, “Investigation of the Dispersion Process of SWNTs/SC-15 Epoxy Resin Nanocomposites,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 385, No. 1-2, 2004, pp. 175-181. [10] S. Wang, Z. Liang, T. Liu, B. Wang and C. Zhang, “Effective Amino-Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes for Reinforcing Epoxy Polymer Composites,” Nanotechnology, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2006, pp. 1551-1557. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/17/6/003 [11] F. H. Gojny, M. H. G. Wichmann, U. Kopke, B. Fiedler and K. Schulte, “Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Epoxy-Composites: Enhanced Stiffness and Fracture Toughness at Low Nanotube Content,” Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 64, No. 15, 2004, pp. 2363-2371. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2004.04.002? [12] Y. Breton, G. Désarmot, J. P. Salvetat, S. Delpeux, C. Sinturel, F. Béguin and S. Bonnamy, “Mechanical Properties of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes/Epoxy Composites: Influence of Network Morphology,” Carbon, Vol. 42, No. 5-6, 2004, pp. 1027-1030. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2003.12.026 [13] J. Zhang and D. Jiang, “Interconnected Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composites,” Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 71, No. 4, 2011, pp. 466-470. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.12.020 [14] A. Martone, C. Formicola, M. Giordano and M. Zarrelli, “Reinforcement Efficiency of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Epoxy Nano Composites,” Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 70, No. 7, 2010, pp. 1154-1160. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.03.001 [15] F. H. Gojny and K. Schulte, “Functionalisation Effect on the Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube/Epoxy-Composites,” Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 64, No. 15, 2004, pp. 2303-2308. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2004.01.024 [16] M. Abdalla, D. Dean, D. Adibempe, E. Nyairo, P. Robinson and G. Thompson, “The Effect of Interfacial Chemistry on Molecular Mobility and Morphology of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Epoxy Nanocomposite,” Polymer, Vol. 48, No. 19, 2007, pp. 5662-5670. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2007.06.073 [17] F. T. F. T. Ramanathan, R. S. Ruoff and L. C. Brinson, “Amino Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Binding to Polymers,” Chemical Materials, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2005, pp. 1290-1295. doi:10.1021/cm048357f [18] R. G. Villoria, A. Miravete, J. Cuartero, A. Chiminelli and N. Tolosana, “Mechanical Properties of SWNT/Epoxy Composites Using Two Different Curing Cycles,” Composites Part B: Engineering, Vol. 37, No. 4-5, 2006, pp. 273-277. doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2006.01.002 [19] L. Ci and J. Bai, “The Reinforcement Role of Carbon Nanotubes in Epoxy Composites with Different Matrix Stiffness,” Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 66, No. 3-4, 2006, pp. 599-603. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2005.05.020 [20] Y. Zhou, F. Pervin, L. Lewis and S. Jeelani, “Experimental Study on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Epoxy,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 452-453, 2007, pp. 657-664. [21] Y. K. Choi, K. Sugimoto, S. M. Song, Y. Gotoh, Y. Ohkoshi and M. Endo, “Mechanical and Physical Properties of Epoxy Composites Reinforced by Vapor Grown Carbon Nanofibers,” Carbon, Vol. 43, No. 10, 2005, pp. 2199-2208. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2005.03.036 [22] J. Shen, W. Huang, L. Wu, Y. Hu and M. Ye, “Thermo-Physical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites Reinforced with Amino-Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes,” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol. 38, No. 5, 2007, pp. 1331-1336. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2006.10.012 [23] Z. Ahmad, M. I. Sarwar and J. E. Mark, “Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis of Aramid Silica Hybrid Composites Prepared in a Sol-Gel Process,” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 63, No. 10, 1996, pp. 1345-1352. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4628(19970307)63:10<1345::AID-APP14>3.0.CO;2-3 [24] J. Zhu, H. Peng, F. Rodriguez-Macias, J. Margrave, V. Khabashesku, A. Imam, K. Lozano and E. Barrera, “Reinforcing Epoxy Polymer Composites through Covalent Integration of Functionalized Nanotubes,” Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 14, 2004, pp. 643-648. doi:10.1002/adfm.200305162 [25] J. D. Ferry, “Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers,” 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980.