Synergistic effect of carbon fabric and multiwalled carbon nanotubes on the fracture, wear and dynamic load response of epoxy-based multiscale composites

In this work, the effect of inclusion of 0.5 to 2 wt% multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in epoxy on the performance of the epoxy-carbon fabric (CF) composites is analyzed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) correlated the dispersion of the nanofillers and morphology of the nanocomposites. The tensile and fracture properties of the composites improved significantly with MWCNT content. Beyond 1 wt%, the properties declined in both nano- and multiscale composites due to the agglomeration of MWCNTs. The wear rate showed a decreasing trend with increase in MWCNT content. The incorporation of MWCNTs resulted in a positive shift in the glass transition temperature (T-g) of the nanocomposites. The complex network formed between MWCNT and CF severely impeded the segmental mobility of the polymer chains which improved the storage modulus of the composites. From the tensile fracture surface analysis, the failure pattern of multiscale composites is found to be relatively ductile in comparison with epoxy-CF composites.