Effect of graphene oxide surface treatment on the interfacial adhesion and the tensile performance of flax epoxy composites

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Applied science and manufacturing, 2021-03, Vol.142, p.106270, Article 106270
• Main Authors: Javanshour, F., Ramakrishnan, KR, Layek, R.K., Laurikainen, P., Prapavesis, A., Kanerva, M., Kallio, P., Van Vuure, A.W., Sarlin, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A. Graphene; A. Natural fibres; B. Fibre/matrix bond; B. Strength
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106270

The high stiffness and damping properties of flax fibres promote the integration of biocomposites in structural applications. However, the strength of flax/epoxy composites is still limited compared to glass/epoxy composites. Graphene oxide (GO) has proved to be a promising building block for nanocomposites due to its high toughness, stiffness and tunable interfacial interactions with polymers. This study aims to understand the potential of GO-based surface treatment of flax fibres to modify the interfacial adhesion and tensile performance of flax fibre/epoxy composites. GO-modification improves the interfacial shear strength of elementary flax fibre/epoxy by 43%. The interfacial improvement is also established by the 40% higher transverse bending strength compared to untreated flax/epoxy composites. The tensile moduli of GO-modified flax/epoxy composites are on average 2 GPa higher than for untreated flax fibre/epoxy composites in all strain ranges. The quasi-static longitudinal tensile strength of unidirectional composites is not affected by GO-modification.