Effects of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on The Mechanical Properties of Glass/Polyester Composites

Abstract

Excellent mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) make them outstanding candidate <br />reinforcements to enhance mechanical properties of conventional composites. The glass/polyester <br />composites are widely used in many industries and applications. Improving the mechanical properties of <br />such composites with addition of CNTs can increase their applications. In this research, multi-walled carbon <br />nanotube (MWCNT) at different weight ratios (0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 wt.%) were added to chopped strand mat <br />(CSM)/Polyester composites. Mechanical stirring with the aid of sonication technique were used to achieve a <br />good dispersion state of MWCNTs in the polymeric matrix. The specimens were fabricated by the hand layup <br />method. It is assumed that a high level of dispersion in the preparation stage may lead to better <br />mechanical properties of the nanocomposite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to <br />determine the dispersion state of carbon nanotubes in the matrix. Mechanical tests (tensile and flexural) were <br />performed in order to evaluate the effects of adding MWCNT on CSM/Polyester composites. The results <br />exhibit improvements in flexural strength while the values of tensile strength do not show significant <br />changes. Although addition of filler at all above ratios increased the flexural strength, introducing only 0.05 <br />wt.% MWCNT into the CSM/Polyester composites enhanced the flexural strength by 45%. Moreover, <br />improvements in Young's and flexural moduli were observed.