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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter October 9, 2014

Mechanical properties and toughening mechanisms of epoxy/graphene nanocomposites

  • Rahim Eqra , Kamal Janghorban EMAIL logo and Habib Daneshmanesh

Abstract

Because of extraordinary physical, chemical and mechanical properties, graphene nanosheets (GNS) are suitable fillers for optimizing the properties of different polymers. In this research, the effect of GNS content (up to 1 wt.%) on tensile and flexural properties, morphology of fracture surface, and toughening mechanism of epoxy were investigated. Results of mechanical tests showed a peak for tensile and flexural strength of samples with 0.1 wt.% GNS such that the tensile and flexural strength improved by 13% and 3.3%, respectively. The Young’s modulus and flexural modulus increased linearly with GNS content, although the behavior of the Young’s modulus was more remarkable. Morphological investigations confirmed this behavior because the GNS dispersion in the epoxy matrix was uniform at lower contents and agglomerated at higher contents. Finally, microscopical observation showed that the major toughening mechanism of graphene-epoxy nanocomposites was crack path deflection, which changed the mirror fracture surface of the pure epoxy to rough surface.


Corresponding author: Kamal Janghorban, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering School, Shiraz University, P. O. Box 71348-15939, Shiraz, Iran, e-mail:

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Received: 2014-5-26
Accepted: 2014-9-10
Published Online: 2014-10-9
Published in Print: 2015-4-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

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