Abstract
Uniform treatment of multiwalled carbon nanotubes by plasma treatment has been investigated using a custom-built stirring plasma system. A thin plasma polymer with high levels of amine groups has been deposited on MWCNTs using a combination of continuous wave and pulsed plasma polymerization of heptylamine in the stirring plasma system. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the plasma polymerization improved the dispersion and interfacial bonding of the MWCNTs with an epoxy resin at loadings of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt%. The flexural and thermal mechanical properties of plasma polymerized MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites were also significantly improved while untreated MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites showed an opposite trend. The epoxy with 0.5 wt% plasma polymerized MWCNTs had the greatest increase in flexural properties, with the flexural modulus, flexural strength and toughness increasing by about 22%, 17% and 70%, respectively.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 172-180 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing |
| Volume | 56 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- A. Particle-reinforcement
- B. Mechanical properties
- E. Surface treatments
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ceramics and Composites
- Mechanics of Materials