Improving the fracture toughness properties of epoxy using graphene nanoplatelets at low filler content

This paper reports improvement in the fracture properties of epoxy nanocomposites using plasma functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (f-GNP) at low filler content. Various mechanical tests were performed on a series of f-GNP/epoxy at low nanofiller loading to assess the effect of the nanofiller on mechanical properties. Most importantly, a significant enhancement in fracture toughness is achieved without compromising the tensile and thermal properties of the nanocomposites. The fracture toughness of neat epoxy resin was increased by over 50% with the incorporation of 0.25 wt% f-GNP loading, obtaining a value of 245 J m(-2), while the neat epoxy indicated a value of 162 J m(-2). The glass transition temperature (T-g) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) both showed a slight increase of 3% and 2%, respectively, both at 1 wt% f-GNP loading. These enhancements are competitive with current literature results on nanocomposites, but at significantly lower filler content. We therefore demonstrate that f-GNPs are capable of providing effective toughening of epoxy resins, while maintaining other tensile and thermal properties.