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Title: | An investigation of the mechanism of graphene toughening epoxy |
Authors: | Wang, Xiao Jin, Jie Song, Mo |
Issue Date: | 2013 |
Publisher: | © Elsevier |
Citation: | WANG, X., JIN, J. and SONG, M., 2013. An investigation of the mechanism of graphene toughening epoxy. Carbon, 65, pp. 324 - 333. |
Abstract: | The three different sized chemical functionalized graphene (GO) sheets, namely GO-1 (D50 = 10.79 μm), GO-2 (D50 = 1.72 μm) and GO-3 (D50 = 0.70 μm), were used to fabricate a series of epoxy/GO nanocomposites. Fracture toughness of these materials was assessed. The results indicate that GO sheets were dramatically effective for improving the fracture toughness of the epoxy at a very significant low loading. The enhancement of the epoxy toughness was strongly dependent on the size of GO sheets incorporated. GO-3 with smaller sheet size gave the maximum reinforcement effect compared with GO-1 and GO-2. The incorporation of only 0.1 wt% GO-3 was observed to increase the fracture toughness of pristine epoxy by ∼75%. The toughening mechanism was well understood by fractography analysis of the tested samples. Massive cracks in the fracture surfaces of the epoxy/GO nanocomposites were observed. The GO sheets effectively disturbed and deflected the crack propagation due to its two dimensional structure. GO-3 sheets with smaller size were highly effective in resisting crack propagation, and a large area of whitening zone was observed. The incorporation of GO also enhanced the stiffness and thermal stability of the epoxy. |
Description: | This article was accepted for publication in the journal Carbon [© Elsevier]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2013.08.032. |
Version: | Accepted for publication |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.carbon.2013.08.032 |
URI: | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/17904 |
Publisher Link: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2013.08.032 |
ISSN: | 0008-6223 |
Appears in Collections: | Published Articles (Materials)
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