DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF MULTISCALE CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER (CFRP) COMPOSITES FOR MULTIFUNCTIONALITY

摘要

Multiscale carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites were successfully prepared through the incorporation of conductive carbon-based nanomaterials with different dimensionalities, geometries and surface chemistry. Pristine and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (p- or f-MWCNTs) or pristine graphene nanoplatelets (p-GnPs) were efficiently dispersed in an epoxy resin using a three-roll mill. Comprehensive rheological, mechanical and electrical studies showed the complexity of selecting the most promising nanofiller for specific applications. While noticeable improvements were found in terms of both elastic modulus (16%) and ultimate tensile strength (37%) by modifying the polymeric matrix with 0.043 wt. % of p-MWCNTs, minor effects were observed for nanocomposites containing 0.36 or 2.14 wt. % of p-GnPs. Afterwards, the most promising formulations were reinforced with carbon fibres to produce pre-impregnated materials that were further converted into CFRP laminates. The interlaminar fracture toughness under mode-I loading (G_(IC)) and the DC electrical conductivities of CFRP composite laminates were evaluated. A noticeable impact of the presence of p-GnPs was reflected by an increase of G_(IC) by 70%.