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Fracture Toughness of Hybrid Carbon Fibre/Epoxy Enhanced by Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes

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Abstract

Carbon-based nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention in materials science and engineering fields as they can significantly improve the electro-thermo-mechanical properties of polymer-based materials. With the need of enhancing the mechanical property through the thickness direction of a carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) system, this study investigates the effect of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and their hybridisations on its Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness. Various nanoplatelet sizes and weight percentages are compared to prohibit their agglomeration in epoxy which can drastically reduce the mechanical properties of CFRP. The smallest GNP size, 1 μm, dispersed in the n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone solvent leads to an advanced 146% enhancement of Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness on the CFRP system. The acetone solvent is found less surface compatible with the nanoplatelets, but provides a simple and environmentally friendly manufacturing process. The hybrid GNP/MWCNT with 1wt% content dispersed in acetone solvent shows the synergistic effect and reaches a 120% enhancement of Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of CFRP. Additionally, the application of the thin film hot press technique on nanoplatelets enhanced CFRP demonstrates an effective and promising solution to manufacture homogeneous multi-phase composites.

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Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the National Graphene Institute for their support in this research. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Zixin Wang

  2. Aerospace Research Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Constantinos Soutis

  3. i-Composites Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering & Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

    Matthieu Gresil

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  1. Zixin Wang
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  2. Constantinos Soutis
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  3. Matthieu Gresil
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Correspondence to Matthieu Gresil.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

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Fig. 11
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Hot press technique temperature and pressure settings

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Wang, Z., Soutis, C. & Gresil, M. Fracture Toughness of Hybrid Carbon Fibre/Epoxy Enhanced by Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes. Appl Compos Mater 28, 1111–1125 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-021-09906-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-021-09906-x

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