High-strength and toughness carbon nanotube fiber/resin composites by controllable wet-stretching and stepped pressing

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used as reinforcements for various composites due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, CNTs have widely suffered from heterogeneous distribution and poor alignment in the composites. To tackle these issues, we herein report an effective strategy toward...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Carbon (New York) 2022-04, Vol.189, p.1-9
Main Authors: Shi, Qiang Qiang, Zhan, Hang, Mo, Run Wei, Wang, Jian Nong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bonding strength
Carbon
Carbon fibers
Carbon nanotubes
Composite materials
Continuous fiber composites
Densification
Mechanical properties
Nanocomposites
Nanofibers
Nanotubes
Pressing
Resins
Strength
Tensile strength
Toughness
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Summary:Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used as reinforcements for various composites due to their excellent mechanical properties. However, CNTs have widely suffered from heterogeneous distribution and poor alignment in the composites. To tackle these issues, we herein report an effective strategy towards preparing highly orientated CNT/epoxy (EP) composites from CNT fibers. That is, CNT fibers were continuously soaked and stretched in an EP resin solution and winded into a film on a drum. During this process, the EP resin was infiltrated and the CNTs were aligned simultaneously, leading to a highly uniform and orientated composite. Stepped pressing before formal curing was further utilized to improve the distribution of the EP resin, the densification and thus the internal bonding strength of the composite. The final CNT/EP composite showed a high tensile strength (3.5 GPa) and toughness (80.2 J cm−3), appearing superior to those for previous CNT and carbon fiber reinforced composites. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0008-6223
1873-3891
DOI:10.1016/j.carbon.2021.12.034