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Tensile Properties and Fracture Behavior of Different Carbon Nanotube-Grafted Polyacrylonitrile-Based Carbon Fibers

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Abstract

The tensile properties and fracture behavior of different carbon nanotube (CNT)-grafted polyacrylonitrile-based (T1000GB) single carbon fibers were investigated. Grafting of CNTs was achieved via chemical vapor deposition (CVD). When Fe(C5H5)2 (also applied via CVD) was used as the catalyst, the tensile strength and Weibull modulus of the carbon fibers were improved, possibly due to the growth of dense CNT networks on the carbon fibers, which may have led to a reduction in the number of strength-limiting defects. Separately, at lower concentrations of an Fe(NO3)3·9H2O catalyst in ethanol, which was applied via dipping, the tensile strength of CNT-grafted fibers was nearly identical to that of the as-received fibers, although the Weibull modulus was higher. For higher concentrations of the Fe(NO3)3·9H2O catalyst, however, the tensile strength and the Weibull modulus were lower than those for the as-received material. Although the density of the CNT network increased with the concentration of the Fe(NO3)3·9H2O catalyst in the ethanol solution, heating of the ethanolic Fe(NO3)3·9H2O catalyst solution generated nitric acid (HNO3) due to decomposition, which damaged the fiber surfaces, resulting in an increase in the number of flaws and consequently a reduction in the tensile strength. Therefore, the tensile strength and Weibull modulus of CNT-grafted carbon fibers vary due to the combination of these effects and as a function of the catalyst concentration.

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Notes

  1. The quantity of CNTs grafted on each carbon fiber was qualitatively estimated using SEM analysis results.

  2. Although the tensile modulus of all CNT-grafted carbon fibers was found to be nearly the same as that in the as-received material considering the standard deviations and differences in the tensile strength, the average tensile modulus of the carbon fibers increased slightly due to grafting of the CNTs, and the enhancement of the average tensile modulus for the CNT-grafted carbon fibers depended on the quantity of CNTs.

  3. Individual CNTs can be interconnected and strongly entangled with each other in several positions to form a three-dimensional network structure on the fiber surface.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) KAKENHI 26420715 and JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) through Advanced Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program (ALCA).

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Correspondence to Kimiyoshi Naito.

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Naito, K. Tensile Properties and Fracture Behavior of Different Carbon Nanotube-Grafted Polyacrylonitrile-Based Carbon Fibers. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 3916–3925 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-1207-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-1207-1

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