Epoxidized multi-walled carbon nanotube buckypapers: A scaffold for polymer nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical properties

High volume fraction carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composites were fabricated by using the buckypaper approach. CNTs were modified by an epoxidation treatment to achieve high degree of chemical bonding with the epoxy matrix. The fabricated buckypapers exhibited high porosity, allowing the epoxy resin to fully penetrate inside the structure of the film. The hybrid material was found to exhibit specific strength of the same order of magnitude as aluminium-based industrial sheets. The usage of micro-Raman spectroscopy to assess the stress transfer from the polymer to the individual or bundled CNTs upon loading revealed that the enhanced mechanical integrity of such materials is due to the friction and contact forces of a huge number (similar to 10(23) m(-3)) of inter-bundle junctions. The proposed fabrication procedure can be easily extended towards the preparation of laminated composites at the industrial scale. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.