Physical interactions at carbon nanotube-polymer interface

Mechanical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polystyrene rod and CNT reinforced epoxy thin film were studied and the CNT-polymer interface in these composites was examined. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy examinations of CNT/polystyrene (PS) and CNT/epoxy composite showed that these polymers adhered well to CNT at the nanometer scale. Molecular mechanics simulations and elasticity calculations were used to quantify some of the important interfacial characteristics that critically control the performance of a composite material. In the absence of chemical bonding between CNT and the matrix, it is found that the non-bond interactions, consist of electrostatic and van der Waals forces, result in CNT-polymer interfacial shear stress (at 0 K) of about 138 and 186 MPa, respectively, for CNT/epoxy and CNT/PS. The high interfacial shear stress calculated, about an order of magnitude higher than micro fiber reinforced composites, is believed attributed to intimate contact between the two solid phases at the molecular scale. Simulations and calculations also showed that local non-uniformity of CNT and mismatch of the coefficients of thermal expansions between CNT and polymer matrix also promote the stress transfer ability between the two.     

A review on the processing technologies of carbon nanotube/silicon carbide composites

Due to the extraordinary electronic, mechanical, chemical, thermal, magnetic, and optical properties, carbon nanotube (CNT), an excellent one-dimensional nano-material, has been considered as a new filler for polymer, metal, and ceramic matrix composites with the main purpose of improving their mechanical performance, fracture behavior, and functional features. In the silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic field, there are many CNT reinforced SiC ceramic matrix composites and CNT/SiC hybrid structures, which have been investigated successfully using various of methods. This paper reviews the current status of researches and describes all different routes for effectively dispersing CNTs throughout SiC ceramic matrix, densifying composites, and synthesizing hybrid structures.     

碳/玻混杂纤维的混杂效应及其受力性能研究

碳纤维与玻璃纤维进行层间混杂后用来进行混凝土结构的加固,可以产生较好的正向混杂效应．就混杂纤维的混杂方式．混杂效应和受力性能进行了研究,结果表明：较之单一纤维,混杂纤维复合材料表现出了明显的混杂效应,还可以降低加固成本,综台效益较好。并提出了混杂纤维复合材料在当前工程应用中存在的问题。     

Research and application prospect of short carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites

With the advantage of high temperature resistance, low expansion, low density and excellent thermal stability, carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites have a very wide range of applications in aerospace, military, energy, chemical industries and transportation. Short carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites are characterized by simple processes, low manufacturing costs, short preparation times and automated production, can be used in fields such as friction materials and thermal protection system. This paper reviews the current status and recent advances in research on homogenization techniques, mechanical properties, thermal properties and frictional properties of short carbon fiber reinforce ceramic composites. Different processing routes for short carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites, including reactive melt infiltration (RMI), hot pressing (HP), spark plasma sintering (SPS) and pressureless sintering, the advantages and drawbacks of each method are briefly discussed. The future development direction of low-cost manufacturing short carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites is prospected.     

Electrically Heated Oxide Ceramic Tubes for High Temperature Reactions

Endothermic high temperature reactions are usually carried out in metal tubes heated by gas burners. Electrical heating allows substantial reduction of CO₂ emissions. We propose the usage of a composite tube, where a thin metallic layer is embedded between an inner and outer ceramic layer. While monolithic ceramics suffer from brittleness and low tolerance to thermal stress, only the inner layer is made from monolithic ceramics, while the outer layer is made of fiber reinforced oxide ceramics. In first tests the hybrid ceramic tube was electrically heated to 1250 °C with a maximum heat release of 85 kW m⁻².     

陶瓷基复合材料的界面相容性研究

有关陶瓷基复合材料（CMC）的界面问题已经得到广泛的重视。为了使材料达到一个很好的刚性，在纤维与基体之间保持尽量小的界面作用力对于陶瓷纤维增强Si-C-O复合材料是非常重要的。在纤维界面上涂层有利于减小它们之间相互作用，涂层处理后的Si-C-O复合材料的弯曲强度比一般无涂层的复合材料高5倍。在介质涂层、基体、以及涂层与纤维间的三相物质中避免化学反应的发生。目前，可利用化学相容性的原理对涂层纤维进行选择。     

Fabrication of C/C-SiC composites using high-char-yield resin

Carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites (C/C-SiC composites) were fabricated using a type of high-char-yield phenolic resin with the char yield of 81.17 wt.%. Firstly, the fabric prepreg was prepared by spreading the phenolic resin solution onto the two dimensional carbon fiber plain weave fabric and dried consequently. Afterward, the resin was cured and then the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was pyrolyzed to get amorphous carbon. Finally, C/C-SiC composites were obtained through liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) process. SEM micrographs showed that the Si/SiC area was homogeneously dispersed in the matrix, and during the siliconization process, a layer of SiC was formed along the surface of carbon fibers or carbon matrix. The fiber volume of CFRP was about 40 vol.%, which was much lower than other studies. XRD result indicated that only β-SiC type was formed. The result of X-ray computed tomography clearly showed the structure changes before and after the melt infiltration process. Mechanical property test showed that the composites had fracture strength of 186 ± 23 MPa, and a flexural modulus of 106 ± 8 GPa.     

Mechanical properties of carbon nanotube/carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic polymer composite

Carbon nanotube (CNT)/carbon fiber (CF) hybrid fiber was fabricated by sizing unsized CF tow with a sizing agent containing CNT. The hybrid fiber was used to reinforce a thermoplastic polymer to prepare multiscale composite. The mechanical properties of the multiscale composite were characterized. Compared with the base composite (traditional commercial CF), the multiscale composite reinforced by the CNT/CF hybrid fiber shows increases in interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and impact toughness. Laminate containing CNTs showed a 115.4% increase in ILSS and 27.0% increase in impact toughness. The reinforcing mechanism was also discussed by observing the impact fracture morphology. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2001–2008, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Improving through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer using carbon nanotube/polyethylenimine at the interlaminar region

The through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite was increased by incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the interlaminar region. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed in a polyethylenimine (PEI) binder, which was then coated onto the carbon fiber fabric. Standard vacuum-assisted resin infusion process was applied to fabricate the composite laminates. This modification technique aims to enhance the electrical conductivity in through-thickness direction for the purpose of nondestructive testing, damage detection, and electromagnetic interference shielding. CNT concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.75 wt% were used and compared to pristine CFRP samples (reference). The through-thickness conductivity of the CFRP exhibited an improvement of up to 781% by adopting this technique. However, the dispersion of CNT in PEI led to a viscosity increase and poor wetting properties which resulted in the formation of voids/defects, poor adhesion (as shown in scanning electron micrographs) and the deterioration of the mechanical properties as manifested by interlaminar shear strength and dynamic mechanical analysis measurements.     

Tough and wear-resistant carbon fiber reinforced TiC-based composite prepared by alloyed melt infiltration at low temperatures

To improve the toughness and friction properties of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composite, a Cu alloy modified carbon fiber reinforced TiC based ceramic matrix composite was designed and prepared by TiCu alloy melt infiltration at low temperatures up to 1100 °C. The as-produced composite was mainly composed of carbon, TiC, Ti₃Cu₄, TiCu₄ and Cu phases. Due to the ductile Cu alloy introduced into the matrix, the composite showed good mechanical performance especially the fracture toughness. The flexural strength reached about 248.36 MPa while the fracture toughness was up to 15.78 MPa·m^1/2. The high toughness of the composite was mainly attributed to the fiber bridging, fiber pull-out, interface debonding, crack propagation and deflection. The tribological performance of the as-produced composite was measured using SiC and 440C stainless steel balls as counterparts, respectively. The as-prepared composite exhibited good wear resistance and the wear mechanism was discussed based on the microstructural observations.     

A novel carbon nanotube nanopaper polyurethane coating for fiber reinforced composite substrates

High performance carbon nanotube (CNT) nanopaper (NP) reinforced polyurethane (PU) nanocomposite coating with high potential for aerospace and automotive applications was successfully fabricated and evaluated in this work. Different PU formulations were used to fabricate nanocomposites to study the effect of hard segment content on resin infiltration and nanocomposite mechanical properties. The process window of PU infiltration into the CNT NP was established by rheology measurements and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The micro-structure morphology of the nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Uniform CNT distribution in PU matrix was observed in the high-resolution SEM images, which indicated good resin impregnation quality. Based on mechanical properties and process window, a PU formulation was selected as matrix to fabricate NP/PU nanocomposite coating for carbon fiber/epoxy composites (CFPC) substrate. The flexural strength and impact resistance of the CFPC were significantly improved by 9% and 14.7% after applying the NP/PU nanocomposite coating. Aimed at industrial applications, a continuous nanopaper fabrication process was successfully demonstrated in this work. Through the process window study, a continuous process to fabricate nanocomposite is proposed for future scale-up.     

A review on machining of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites

Carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix ceramic/polymers composites have excellent physical-mechanical properties for their specific strength, high hardness, and strong fracture toughness relative to their matrix, and they also possess a good performance of wear resistance, heat resistance, dimensional stability, and ablation resistance. It is a choice for thermal protection and high temperature structural materials. However, this kind of composites owning characteristics of high hardness and abrasion is difficult to machine which impedes the large-scale industrial application of manufacturing. This paper mainly reviews the research on machining status of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites including carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites from the aspects of conventional machining and unconventional machining method. The machining trends, problems existing in various machining methods and corresponding solutions are generalized and analyzed.     

玄武岩纤维及其在建筑结构加固中的应用研究进展

玄武岩纤维增强复合材料(BFRP)是一种新型纤维复合材料,相比目前在建筑结构加固中广泛使用的碳纤维来说,BFRP具有较好的延性、耐高温、耐腐蚀特性并且在加固成本方面也有较突出的优势.因而玄武岩纤维材料在某些情况下可替代或混杂碳纤维使用,以期达到同样加固效果的同时降低费用.本文从玄武岩纤维的发展、特性、加固试验研究总结和展望了玄武岩纤维在建筑结构构件加固中的研究现状以及应用前景,并指出当前研究存在的问题及未来需要解决的关键问题.     

聚合物/碳纳米管复合材料的研究现状及在纤维中的应用

对聚合物/碳纳米管复合材料的制备和性能研究现状及碳纳米管对聚合物的增强机理作了综述,并介绍了此纳米复合材料在复合纤维制备中的应用。     

Improving delamination resistance of carbon fiber reinforced polymeric composite by interface engineering using carbonaceous nanofillers through electrophoretic deposition: An assessment at different in-service temperatures

In this article, modification of carbon fiber surface by carbon based nanofillers (multi-walled carbon nanotubes [CNT], carbon nanofibers, and multi-layered graphene) has been achieved by electrophoretic deposition technique to improve its interfacial bonding with epoxy matrix, with a target to improve the mechanical performance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. Flexural and short beam shear properties of the composites were studied at extreme temperature conditions; in-situ cryo, room and elevated temperature (−196, 30, and 120°C respectively). Laminate reinforced with CNT grafted carbon fibers exhibited highest delamination resistance with maximum improvement in flexural strength as well as in inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) among all the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (CE) composites at all in-situ temperatures. CNT modified CE composite showed increment of 9% in flexural strength and 17.43% in ILSS when compared to that of unmodified CE composite at room temperature (30°C). Thermomechanical properties were investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis. Fractography was also carried out to study different modes of failure of the composites.     

Multi-scale numerical simulations of thermal expansion properties of CNT-reinforced nanocomposites

In this work, the thermal expansion properties of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced nanocomposites with CNT content ranging from 1 to 15 wt% were evaluated using a multi-scale numerical approach, in which the effects of two parameters, i.e., temperature and CNT content, were investigated extensively. For all CNT contents, the obtained results clearly revealed that within a wide low-temperature range (30°C ~ 62°C), thermal contraction is observed, while thermal expansion occurs in a high-temperature range (62°C ~ 120°C). It was found that at any specified CNT content, the thermal expansion properties vary with temperature - as temperature increases, the thermal expansion rate increases linearly. However, at a specified temperature, the absolute value of the thermal expansion rate decreases nonlinearly as the CNT content increases. Moreover, the results provided by the present multi-scale numerical model were in good agreement with those obtained from the corresponding theoretical analyses and experimental measurements in this work, which indicates that this multi-scale numerical approach provides a powerful tool to evaluate the thermal expansion properties of any type of CNT/polymer nanocomposites and therefore promotes the understanding on the thermal behaviors of CNT/polymer nanocomposites for their applications in temperature sensors, nanoelectronics devices, etc.     

Enhanced mechanical properties and thermal shock resistance of Cf/ZrB2-SiC composite via an efficient slurry injection combined with vibration-assisted vacuum infiltration

An efficient slurry injection combined with vibration-assisted vacuum infiltration process has been developed to fabricate 3D continuous carbon fiber reinforced ZrB₂-SiC ceramics. Homogenous distribution between carbon fiber and ceramic was achieved successfully, leading to an enhancement in mechanical properties. The C_f-PyC/ZrB₂-SiC composite exhibited a typical non-brittle fracture mode with a superior fracture toughness of 6.72 ± 0.21 MPa·m^1/2 and an extraordinary work of fracture of 2270 J/m², respectively, increasing by nearly 14.8 % and 36 % as compared with those of a parent composite fabricated by only slurry injection and slurry infiltration. The enhancement in fracture toughness and work of fracture were attributed to multiple toughening mechanism including crack deflection, PyC coated fiber bundles pull-out and fiber bridging. Moreover, a critical thermal shock temperature difference of 814 °C was achieved, higher than that of traditional ZrB₂-based ceramics. This work presents an efficient approach to fabricate high-performance C_f/UHTCs with uniform architecture.     

含Si–O–C界面层的C/Si–C–N复合材料的抗氧化性能(英文)

为了研究利用Si–O–C界面层来提高碳纤维增强陶瓷基复合材料的抗氧化性能,利用化学气相浸渗和聚合物浸渗裂解工艺制备了以Si–O–C为界面的碳纤维增强Si–C–N陶瓷基复合材料（C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N）和无界面层的碳纤维增强Si–C–N陶瓷基复合材料（C/Si–C–N）。研究了C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N和C/Si–C–N在600、900℃和1 200℃空气环境中的氧化行为。结果表明：采用Si–O–C界面层后可提高复合材料的抗氧化性能;Si–O–C界面层较高的氧化抗力是碳纤维增强Si–C–N复合材料抗氧化性能提高的主要原因。     

Characterization and compression properties of injection molded carbon nanotube composites

Since the development of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in 1991, they have received much attention with improved mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of their composites compared to common polymer composites. The CNTs are currently used to increase the modulus of common thermoplastics and thermosets, including urethanes and epoxies. The CNTs are difficult to disperse within any media because of limited chemical reactivity and potential agglomeration in their “as grown” state. This study evaluated the effect of incorporating bundled and unbundled CNTs at different concentrations into Polyurethane/CNT/woven fiber reinforced composites. Optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterized the dispersion of CNTs within the polymer matrix in injection molded CNT/polyurethane composites. Polyurethane/CNT/woven fiber reinforced composite plaques were prepared and then characterized by mechanical compression testing. Optical microscopy and AFM qualitatively determined a decreased agglomerate size resulting in improved mechanical properties. Results of this study show significant differences in yield stress, stress at failure, and modulus of elasticity within the various treatments. No significant differences were found for yield strain, strain at failure, and toughness. However, the conservativeness of the statistical model warrants further investigation for strain at failure and toughness with possible interaction effects of CNT concentration for each composite. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Fabrication of multi-level carbon nanotube arrays with adjustable patterns

Multi-level carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays with adjustable patterns were prepared by a combination of the breath figure (BF) process and chemical vapor deposition. Polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid)/ferrocene was dissolved in carbon disulfide and cast onto a Si substrate covered with a transmission electron microscope grid in saturated relative humidity. A two-level microporous hybrid film with a block copolymer skeleton formed on the substrate after evaporation of the organic solvent and water. One level of ordered surface features originates from the contour of the hard templates; while the other level originates from the condensation of water droplets (BF arrays). Ultraviolet irradiation effectively cross-linked the polymer matrix and endowed the hybrid film with improved thermal stability. In the subsequent pyrolysis, the incorporated ferrocene in the hybrid film was oxidized and turned the polymer skeleton into the ferrous inorganic micropatterns. Either the cross-linked hybrid film or the ferrous inorganic micropatterns could act as a template to grow the multi-level CNT patterns, e.g. isolated and honeycomb-structured CNT bundle arrays perpendicular to the substrate.