Study the Effect of Nano-Cellulose Filled Carbon Fibre/Epoxy Composite on Fracture Toughness

摘要

In certain application of fiber reinforced polymer composites fracture resistance is required. The aim of this study was to improve the interfacial adhesion between plain woven carbon fiber (CF) and epoxy matrix filled with 0.05, 0.1, and 0.3% of electrospun cellulose acetate (ECA). The average diameter of the CA nanofibers electrospun from the 15wt.% CA solution in aceton/DMAc (2:1) was 130 nm. CF/Epoxy/ECA composites were characterized by different techniques, namely tensile, fracture toughness (mode I) test and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results reveal that at fibre content 0.3% of ECA, initiation and propagation interlaminar fracture toughness in mode I improved significantly by 30% and 84% respectively which could be attribute to strong adhesion between filled epoxy and carbon fiber. This can be explained by SEM at given weight as well; SEM images showed that in front of the tip, fiber breakage during initiation delimination as well as the extensive matrix deformation between fibers accounting for increase fracture toughness.