Journal
COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 72, Issue 14, Pages 1705-1710Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2012.06.008
Keywords
Hybrid composites; Carbon nanotubes; Mechanical properties; Nanoindentation
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Funding
- National Science Foundation
- Lockheed Martin
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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown from the surface of glass fibers by chemical vapor deposition, and these hybrid fibers were individually dispersed in an epoxy matrix to investigate the local composite structure and properties near the fiber surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed the influence of infiltration and curing of a liquid epoxy precursor on the morphology of the CNT forest region, or region of high CNT density near the fiber surface. Subsequent image analysis highlighted the importance of spatially dependent volume fractions of CNTs in the matrix as a function of distance from the fiber surface, and nanoindentation was used to probe local mechanical properties in the CNT forest region, showing strong correlations between local stiffness and volume fraction. This work represents the first in situ measurements of local mechanical properties of the nano-structured matrix region in hybrid fiber-reinforced composites, providing a means of quantifying the reinforcement provided by the grafted nanofillers. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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