Properties of Fiberglass/MWCNT Buckypaper/Epoxy Laminated Composites

In this research, multi-walled carbon nanotubes buckypaper have been incorporated into three-ply glass fiber/epoxy laminated composites to form hybrid composites. Two different type of MWCNT buckypaper have been incorporated into glass fiber/epoxy laminated composites. The buckypaper incorporated were either in form of free-standing MWCNT buckypaper (CNTBP) or MWCNT buckypaper/epoxy (CNTBPE). The effect of the incorporation of the buckypaper in the hybrid composites have been compared to three-ply and four-ply glass fiber/epoxy laminated composites. It was found that CNTBPE sample exhibits 50 % and 30 % higher flexural strength compared to three-ply glass fiber composite and four-ply glass fiber composite, respectively. Specific strength and specific modulus of the CNTBPE samples reached up to 64.03 MPa/gcm(-3) and 6.43GPa/gcm(-3), respectively. The specific strength and modulus of CNTBPE is 70 and 30 %, respectively higher compared to 3GF. This showed that incorporation of MWCNTBP/epoxy in the glass fiber composite system promotes the fabrication of lightweight structures with better flexural strength properties. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.