Excellent mechanical properties of long multiwalled carbon nanotube bridged Kevlar fabric

• Published in: Carbon (New York) Vol. 137; pp. 104 - 117
• Main Authors: Sharma, Sushant, Pathak, Abhishek K., Singh, Vidya Nand, Teotia, Satish, Dhakate, S.R., Singh, B.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Aramid fiber reinforced plastics; Carbon; Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA); Dynamic mechanical properties; Epoxy resins; Hybrid composites; Interfacial properties; Kevlar (trademark); Kevlar® 49; Laminar composites; Mechanical properties; Modulus of elasticity; Modulus of rupture in bending; Multi wall carbon nanotubes; Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs); Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Raman spectroscopy; Slippage; Storage modulus; Tensile strength; Transmission electron microscopy; Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA); Kevlar® 49; Interfacial properties; Raman spectroscopy; Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)
• ISSN: 0008-6223; 1873-3891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2018.05.017

The major causes of failure of Kevlar reinforced composites are inter-yarn slippage and poor adhesion with polymer. Herein, long length multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are used as a secondary reinforcement to enhance the interfacial interaction between Kevlar and epoxy through bridging action. Different wt. % of MWCNT based Kevlar reinforced hybrid composite tape and their laminar composites have been prepared and their quasi-static unidirectional and dynamic mechanical properties are studied. It is found that the maximum tensile strength, Young's modulus and storage modulus of optimized i.e. 0.3 wt % of MWCNTs in epoxy resin (0.3KE) composite showed an overall improvement of ∼81%, ∼56% and ∼139%, respectively over base line composite tape (KE). The flexural modulus, Young's modulus and storage modulus of 0.3 wt % multi-scaled laminar composite (KEC) showed an overall improvement of ∼33%, ∼50%, and ∼233%, respectively over KE. The effects of MWCNTs on interfacial properties of multi-scaled composite tapes are correlated by Raman spectral shift, FTIR and XRD analysis. Further the bridging actions of long length MWCNTs are visualized by using high resolution transmission electron microscopy.
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