Journal of Theoretical
and Applied Mechanics

54, 2, pp. 551-560, Warsaw 2016
DOI: 10.15632/jtam-pl.54.2.551

Improving mechanical properties of epoxy by adding multi-wall carbon nanotube

Basim M. Fadhil, Payman Sahbah Ahmed, Ava Ali Kamal
In this research, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are used as the reinforcement in an epoxy resin with weight percentages (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1)wt%, respectively, by using both direct (nonhomogeneous) and homogeneous dispersion mixing processes to prepare (epoxy/MWCNTs) nanocomposites. Tensile and drop weight impact tests are used to evaluate mechanical properties of the composites. Results show that homogeneous dispersion has a great effect on enhancing mechanical properties of multi-wall carbon nanotube reinforced composites. Adding 0.2wt% of MWCNTs enhances and increases tensile properties, and adding 0.6wt% of MWCNTs enhances impact properties.
Keywords: multi-wall carbon nanotubes, mechanical properties and nanocomposites