GRAPHENE OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE FILMS FOR FRACTURE TOUGHNESS IMPROVEMENT IN CARBON/EPOXY COMPOSITES

摘要

Graphene oxide (GO) is an oxide form of graphite, which still preserves the parent layeredstructure terminated by oxygen rich groups like epoxide, carbonyl and hydroxyl. Its strongaffinity for water makes it easily dispersible. The present work discusses an idea forincorporation of GO nano-particles into composites for improving the fracture toughness ofcomposite laminates. Film technology is suggested for better dispersion of GO into the matrixresin. It is expected that the terminal groups in GO can react with epoxy and similar resinsystems in the interlaminar region, while the basal planes help in improving the mechanicalproperties of the composites. Also, GO plates are expected to act as crack deflectors, layingdown a torturous path for a propagating crack and increasing the energy required fordelamination. Composite mechanical properties including fracture toughness will be discussed inthis paper. These nanocomposites can find applications in varied fields like aircraft breakingsystems, thermal magnets and tooling applications.