Improvement of Fracture Toughness in Epoxy Nanocomposites through Chemical Hybridization of Carbon Nanotubes and Alumina

摘要

The current study investigated the effect of adding a carbon nanotube–alumina (CNT–Al 2 O 3 ) hybrid on the fracture toughness of epoxy nanocomposites. The CNT–Al 2 O 3 hybrid was synthesised by growing CNTs on Al 2 O 3 particles via the chemical vapour deposition method. The CNTs were strongly attached onto the Al 2 O 3 particles, which served to transport and disperse the CNTs homogenously, and to prevent agglomeration in the CNTs. The experimental results demonstrated that the CNT–Al 2 O 3 hybrid-filled epoxy nanocomposites showed improvement in terms of the fracture toughness, as indicated by an increase of up to 26% in the critical stress intensity factor, K 1 C , compared to neat epoxy.