Issue 23, 2013
From the journal:

RSC Advances

Synergistic toughening of epoxy with carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide for improved long-term performance†

Yuanqing Li,a   Rehan Umer,a   Abdel Isakovic,a   Yarjan Abdul Samad,a   Lianxi Zhengb  and  Kin Liao*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Aerospace Engineering Department, Khalifa University of Science Technology & Research, Abu Dhabi, 127788, UAE
E-mail: kin.liao@kustar.ac.ae
Tel: +971-2-5018583

b School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

Abstract

Epoxy based nanocomposites using graphene oxide (GO) sheets dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as combination fillers were prepared using an in situ polymerization technique. A remarkable synergetic effect was observed between CNTs and GO sheets which improved the mechanical properties of the epoxy. It was confirmed by optical and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images that the dispersion of CNTs in epoxy matrix can be significantly improved by adding GO sheets. The overall mechanical properties of CNT–GO/epoxy composites were greatly enhanced with only adding 0.04 wt% (percent by weight) CNTs and 0.2 wt% GO sheets. Moreover, the fatigue and creep rupture lives of pure epoxy was also significantly increased by the addition of GO dispersed CNTs. Approximately a 950% improvement in fatigue life, and 400% improvement in creep rupture life were observed at the applied stress levels tested.

Graphical abstract: Synergistic toughening of epoxy with carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide for improved long-term performance

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3RA22300K
Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Sep 2012
Accepted
22 Mar 2013
First published
25 Mar 2013

RSC Adv., 2013,3, 8849-8856

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Synergistic toughening of epoxy with carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide for improved long-term performance

Y. Li, R. Umer, A. Isakovic, Y. A. Samad, L. Zheng and K. Liao, RSC Adv., 2013, 3, 8849 DOI: 10.1039/C3RA22300K

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