Scalable preparation of multiscale carbon nanotube/glass fiber reinforcements and their application in polymer composites
writer：Ke Peng, Yan-Jun Wan, Dong-You Ren, Qing-Wen Zeng, and Long-Cheng Tang*
keywords：Glass fibers, Carbon nanotubes, Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs), Mechanical properties, Electron microscopy
source：期刊
specific source：Fibers and Polymers
Issue time：2014年
The introduction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into conventional fiber
to construct a hierarchical structure in polymer composites has attracted great
interest owing to their merits of performance improvement and multiple
functionalities. However, there is a challenge for realizing the scalable preparation
of the multi-scale CNT-glass fiber (CNT-GF) reinforcements in practical
application. In this work, we present a simple and continuous method of the mass
production of multiscale CNT-glass fiber (CNT-GF) reinforcements. Scanning
electron microscopy and thermo gravimetric analysis indicated ~1.0
wt% CNTs were highly dispersed on the whole fiber surface through a facile surfactant-assisted
process. Such hybrid CNT-GF fillers were found to effectively enhance the stiffness,
strength and impact resistance of polypropylene polymer. Increased storage
modulus, glass transition temperature and crystallization temperature of
the composites filled with the CNT-GF fillers were also observed in the
differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic
mechanical analysis compared with the
composites containing the pristine GF fillers. Fracture
surface analysis revealed enhanced interfacial quality between CNT-GF and
matrix, which is likely responsible for improved performance of the
hierarchical polymer composites.