Damping properties of carbon fiber reinforced composites hybridized with polysulfone (PSF)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) interleaves

Damping properties are critical for many applications of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites (CF/EP). In this paper, polysulfone (PSF)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) nanofibrous membranes were fabricated by electrospinning as hybrid interleaves in CF/EP composites. The damping properties of the interleaved CF/EP composites were measured by the cantilever percussion free-decay method and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The strength and modulus values of the interleaved composites were obtained by tensile and flexural tests. The obtained results showed that after interleaving by the 10%PSF/0.5%CNC membranes, the damping properties of CF/EP composites were enhanced with little loss of mechanical properties. The damping mechanisms were examined and analyzed with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was concluded that the enhanced damping properties were due to the different energy dissipation mechanisms associated with the PSF nanoparticles generated by reaction induced phase separation and the incorporated CNCs in the EP matrix.