Effect of Ni-coated short carbon fibers on the mechanical and electrical properties of epoxy composites

Ni-coated short carbon fibers (Ni-SCFs) were prepared using an electrodeposition method. Short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced epoxy composites were prepared by changing the fiber content (0.1–0.7 wt%). To investigate the effect of Ni-coated short carbon fibers on the mechanical and electrical properties of the composites, we prepared two kinds of reinforcements: the short carbon fibers treated by 400 °C (400 °C treated SCFs) and Ni-SCFs. Fracture characteristics of the composites revealed the Ni coatings and the epoxy matrix had a better interface, so that the results of tensile and bending strength were better in epoxy/Ni-SCFs composites than those in epoxy/400 °C treated SCFs composites. The 400 °C treated SCFs decreased the electrical resistivity of the epoxy composites, compared to the pure epoxy. However the epoxy/Ni-SCFs composites had lower electrical resistivity than epoxy/400 °C treated SCFs with the same fiber content.     

Dynamic mechanical analysis of randomly oriented short bagasse/coir hybrid fibre-reinforced epoxy novolac composites

Hybrid composites of epoxy novolac reinforced with short bagasse fibres and short coir fibres were prepared. The mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of these bagasse-coir hybrid fibres reinforced epoxy novolac composites were investigated with reference to different layering patterns of the composites. The tensile properties of the tri-layer composites are recorded higher than those of the bi-layer composites, whereas the flexural properties of the tri-layer composites are lower than bi-layer composites. The tensile strength of the intimate mix composite is comparable with trilayer composite having bagasse as skin material. The effect of layering pattern on storage modulus (E′), damping behavior (tan δ), and loss modulus (E″) was studied as a function of temperature and frequency. The E′ values of the bi-layer composites are recorded lower than those of tri-layer (bagasse/coir/bagasse) and intimately mixed hybrid composites. The minimum E′ value is obtained for the composites made with coir as skin layer. Bi-layer composite shows maximum damping property. The theoretical modeling showed good correlation with experimental results at above glass transition temperature (T _g ), while theoretical model deviates experimental data at lower T _g . The Arrhenius relationship has been used to calculate the activation energy of the glass transition of the composites.     

Characterization of plant and animal based natural fibers reinforced polypropylene composites and their comparative study

Natural fibers are largely divided into two categories depending on their origin: plant based and animal based. Plant based natural jute fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) matrix composites (20 wt% fiber) were fabricated by compression molding. Bending strength (BS), bending modulus (BM), tensile strength (TS), Young’s modulus (YM), and impact strength (IS) of the composites were found 44.2 MPa, 2200 MPa, 41.3 MPa, 750 MPa and 12 kJ/m², respectively. Animal based natural B. mori silk fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) matrix composites (20 wt% fiber) were fabricated in the same way and the mechanical properties were compared over the silk based composites. TS, YM, BS, BM, IS of silk fiber reinforced polypropylene composites were found 55.6 MPa, 760 MPa, 57.1 MPa, 3320 MPa and 17 kJ/m² respectively. Degradation of composites in soil was measured upto twelve weeks. It was found that plant based jute fiber/PP composite losses its strength more than animal based silk fiber/PP composite for the same period of time. The comparative study makes it clear that mechanical properties of silk/PP composites are greater than those values of jute/PP composites. But jute/PP composites are more degradable than silk/PP composites i.e., silk/PP composites retain their strength for a longer period than jute/PP composites.     

Synthesis and application of novel high light fastness red dyes for ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibers

A new series of anthraquinoid red dyes were synthesized with 1-amino-2-bromo-4-hydroxyanthraquinone and nalkylphenols to dye UHMWPE fibers with high light fastness. Their dyeability was examined depending on the length of alkyl chains. As the length of alkyl substituents increases, the dyeability toward UHMWPE fibers improves rapidly from methyl to ethyl substituents and maintains almost same level of color strength, and then decreases from heptyl to octyl groups. The color strength of dyeings increased dramatically with the increase of dyeing temperature from 100 °C to 130 °C. The maximum build-up was shown at around 5 % owf dye amount. From the dyeing rate, equilibrium dyeing was achieved at around 5 h at 130 °C. All kinds of fastnesses were good enough showing higher than ratings 4-5 to washing and rubbing for the longer alkyl substituents. Especially, much improvement was achieved in light fastness showing ratings 4, which was higher than ratings 2 of the previous study.     

Mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy composites containing graphene oxide and liquid crystalline epoxy

The graphene oxide (GO) sheets are chemically grafted with γ-etheroxygentrimethoxysilane (KH560) and liquid crystalline epoxy (LCE) is synthesized from 4,4′-bis(2-hydroxyhexoxy)biphenyl (BP₂) and epichlorohydrin before being incorporated into epoxy matrix. Then we present a novel approach to the fabrication of advanced polymer composites from epoxy matrix by incorporation of two modifiers, which are grafted GO (g-GO) and LCE. The mechanical properties of epoxy composites are greatly improved by incorporating LCE/g-GO hybrid fillers. For instance, the addition of 3 wt% hybrid filler (2 wt% g-GO and 1 wt% LCE) into the epoxy matrix resulted in the increases in impact strength by 132.6 %, tensile strength by 27.6 % and flexural strength by 37.5 %. Moreover, LCE/g-GO hybrid fillers are effective to increase thermal decomposition temperature, glass transition temperature, and storage modulus by strong affinity between the fillers and epoxy matrix.     

Mechanical behavior of composites reinforced with fibers caroa

Composites were prepared with 13, 23 30 and 40 % fiber and evaluated the mechanical performance in tensile, flexural and impact. The mechanical properties of these composites were also evaluated function of time at 110 °C thermal exposure. Caroa fibers were characterized by techniques such as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the best mechanical properties were achieved for composites containing 23 to 30 % fiber. The incorporation of 23 % fiber caroa increased both the modulus of elasticity in the tensile test as the flexural strength and impact, the composite with 30 % fiber caroa showed higher tensile strength. The results show that the tensile and flexural strength of the composite decreased with time of thermal exposure. The thermal aging at 110 °C caused a decrease in tensile properties of the composites.     

Direct manufacturing of flax fibers reinforced low melting point PET composites from nonwoven mats

There have been many interests in using natural fibers as substitutes for glass fibers to prepare fiber reinforced composites. Flax fibers, due to their specific strength, have been a hot issue in this field. The focus of this research work is to manufacture flax fiber reinforced low melting point PET composites directly from nonwoven mats. No consolidation methods are applied to the carded nonwoven mats before the hot-press molding. The effects of operating parameters like carding method, molding temperature, molding time, etc. on the mechanical properties of composites have been investigated. Results show it is a facile and cost-saving method to produce composites specifically in the application areas like automobile interior ornament and decoration materials, etc.     

Green composites. I. physical properties of ramie fibers for environment-friendly green composites

The surface topography, tensile properties, and thermal properties of ramie fibers were investigated as reinforcement for fully biodegradable and environmental-friendly ‘green’ composites. SEM micrographs of a longitudinal and cross-sectional view of a single ramie fiber showed a fibrillar structure and rough surface with irregular cross-section, which is considered to provide good interfacial adhesion with polymer resin in composites. An average tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and fracture strain of ramie fibers were measured to be 627 MPa, 31.8 GPa, and 2.7 %, respectively. The specific tensile properties of the ramie fiber calculated per unit density were found to be comparable to those of E-glass fibers. Ramie fibers exhibited good thermal stability after aging up to 160°C with no decrease in tensile strength or Young’s modulus. However, at temperatures higher than 160°C the tensile strength decreased significantly and its fracture behavior was also affected. The moisture content of the ramie fiber was 9.9%. These properties make ramie fibers suitable as reinforcement for ‘green’ composites. Also, the green composites can be fabricated at temperatures up to 160°C without reducing the fiber properties.     

Batch foaming of short carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene composites

In this paper, the short carbon fiber (SCF)/PP composite foams with fine open cell were prepared with batch foaming technique using supercritical CO₂. The effects of SCF contents, saturation pressure and depressurization rate on the cell morphology were studied. The experimental results indicate that the cell morphology of foamed composites was significantly influenced by the SCF contents and saturation pressure. It is found that the cell size increased and cell density decreased with the increment of SCF contents while the saturation pressure had the opposite effect. However, depressurization rate showed little impacts on the cell morphology due to the presence of SCF.     

Photo-oxidation of polypropylene fibers exposed to short wavelength UV radiations

Polypropylene fibers were exposed to short wavelength radiations (λ=253.7 nm). The samples were analyzed by microscopy, staining, FTIR spectroscopy, tensile testing, and X-ray diffraction. The short-wavelength UV irradiation produces much more reactive radicals such as peroxy and alkoxy groups, which speeds up the photo-oxidation process. The products were identified by FTIR spectroscopy to be alcohols, peroxides, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and anhydrides. Comparison of the amount of functional groups leads to an estimation of the mechanism of photo-oxidation. The short-range order increases during the photo-oxidation and the long-range order or crystalline fraction remains intact. Transverse cracks appeared on the surface of fibers after a long period of exposure to the radiation. A proposed mechanism for crack formation is the removal of the photo-oxidation products and the restructuring of the residuals. Similar to the thermal oxidation, mass loss and density increase are the main reasons for the crack formation in photo-oxidation.     

A study on heat insulation of composites made of recycled far-infrared fibers and three-dimensional crimped hollow polyester fibers

Far-infrared polyethylene terephthalate (FPET) fibers have been commonly used in clothing in order to attain heat retention, and the combination of three-dimensional crimped hollow polyethylene terephthalate (TPET) fibers makes the clothing to be fluffy and air permeable, and thereby improves the wearing comfort. This study aims to make thermally insulating nonwoven composites by using recycled far infrared fibers. The composites are used to cover the heat transfer lines and prevent the heat emissivity. A specified amount of low-melting-point polyethylene terephthalate (LPET) fibers and FPET and TPET fibers at different ratios are blended, followed by being needle punched at 100-300 needles/min, and then hot pressed at 120 °C, in order to form thirty nonwoven composite types. These nonwoven composites are measured for their porosity, thickness, and air permeability, and are tested for thermal insulation and temperature-rise slope under a constant ambient temperature.     

Effect of fiber length on mechanical behavior of coir fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Fiber reinforced polymer composites have played a dominant role for a long time in a variety of applications for their high specific strength and modulus. The fiber which serves as a reinforcement in reinforced plastics may be synthetic or natural. To this end, an investigation has been carried out to make use of coir, a natural fiber abundantly available in India. Natural fibers are not only strong and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. The present work describes the development and characterization of a new set of natural fiber based polymer composites consisting of coconut coir as reinforcement and epoxy resin as matrix material. The developed composites are characterized with respect to their mechanical characteristics. Experiments are carried out to study the effect of fiber length on mechanical behavior of these epoxy based polymer composites. Finally, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) of fractured surfaces has been done to study their surface morphology.     

The statistical investigation of mechanical properties of PP/natural fibers composites

A systematic and statistical approach to evaluate and predict the properties of random discontinuous natural fiber reinforced composites. Different composites based on polypropylene and reinforced with natural fibers have been made and their mechanical properties are measured together with the distribution of the fiber size and the fiber diameter. The values obtained have been related to the theoretical predictions, using a combination of the Griffith theory for the effective properties of the natural fibers and the Halpin-Tsai equation for the elastic modulus of the composites. The relationships between experimental results and theoretical predictions are statistically analyzed using a probability density function estimation approach based on neural networks. The results show a more accurate expected value with respect to the traditional statistical function estimation approach. In order to point out the particular features of natural fibers, the same proposed method is also applied to PP-glass fiber composites.     

Development and characterization of light weight plant structured fabrics

Scientists and engineers are increasingly turning to nature for inspiration. Light weight textile fabrics suitable for summer dress material were developed by imitating the branching structure of a plant in order to achieve high water absorption and transportation properties. The absorption property of the fabrics was characterized by using the Moisture Management Tester (MMT) and Transplanar Water Transport Tester (TWTT). The fabrics were analyzed using optical microscopes and Optical Contact Angle (OCA) tester to understand the structure as well as the absorption behavior of these fabrics. The results indicated that plant structured fabrics have a significant faster water absorption and wicking properties over conventional weave structures, makes them highly preferable for summer-wear.     

Fatigue performance of Kevlar/epoxy composites with filled matrix by cork powder

The objective of this study is to characterize the fatigue strength of a Kevlar/epoxy laminate composite as well as the benefits obtained by using an epoxy matrix filled by cork powder. Twelve ply laminates, all in the same direction, of woven bi-directional Kevlar 292, were prepared by hand lay-up, using an SR 1500 epoxy resin. The composite sheets were produced by a vacuum moulding process. The addition of cork powder reduces the static strength, however, in terms of fatigue strength a similar behavior was found for both laminates.     

Water soluble carboxymethylcellulose fibers derived from alkalization-etherification of viscose fibers

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) fibers have been successfully prepared from viscose fibers through the process of alkalization-etherification. Parameters including reaction temperature, mass ratio of NaOH to the viscose fibers, and mass ratio of the viscose fibers to ethanol are studied. The degree of substitution (DS) and the inherent viscosity of the CMC fibers are determined. The CMC fibers are characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The analysis demonstrates that under the experimental conditions where the reaction temperature is 40 °C, mass ratio of NaOH to the viscose fibers is 2.0, and mass ratio of the viscose fibers to ethanol is 1:15, the obtained CMC fibers possess an appropriate DS, better water-solubility, and lower degree of etching, thus they can be used as absorbable hemostatic fibers.     

Characterization of kenaf phloem fibers in relation to stem growth

Microscopic study on phloem fibers in kenaf stem was carried out to examine the developmental process of phloem fiber and localization of noncellulosic polysaccharides in the cell walls. Histochemical observation showed that layered phloem fiber bundles developed external to the vascular cambium as stems grew after planting, and the number of layered bundles was higher in the bottom region of the stem regardless of growth stage. Based on immunocytochemical observations, cells making up the phloem fiber bundles had thick secondary cell walls containing mixed-linkage, (1 → 3, 1 → 4)-β-d-glucan as a component of hemicellulose. Other polysaccharides present in cell walls, namely xyloglucan, rhamnogalacturonan, and methyl-esterified homogalacturonan, were localized only, in the primary cell walls and/or in the junction between contiguous cells. In addition, mechanical evaluation on isolated kenaf fibers showed that the fiber strength varied by stem maturity and region: both higher tensile strength and initial Young's modulus were recorded in fibers obtained from the middle region of stems harvested 4-6 months after planting.     

Mechanical and moisture absorption characterization of PLA composites reinforced with nano-coated flax fibers

This research is intended to improve the interface between the fibers and the matrix and limit water absorption of bio-based material thereby decreasing degradation of the composites when they are exposed to external environment such as high temperature and humidity. In this study, flax fibers were treated with an organic surface coating containing SiO₂ nanoparticles. This coating was a dispersion of silica fume in epoxy. One composite was also made with raw fibers as reference as well as one sample of pure PLA. Flax fibers/PLA composites were manufactured by hot pressing by stacking 4 PLA films and 3 pieces of flax fabric. Morphology and dispersion of the coating on the fibers was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Accelerated ageing was carried out on the 3 materials by placing them in a 50 °C water bath until saturation to investigate the influence of the coating on water diffusion. Mechanical properties of the different composites were investigated by tensile (before and after conditioning) and short beam shear (SBS) testing in order to evaluate the impact of the coating on the interfacial properties of the materials. The results show that the fibers surface was homogenized and that a better adhesion was reached because of the coating. Coating the fibers also allowed the decrease in water uptake by more than 10 % and their protection during conditioning, preserving their mechanical properties.     

The influence of graphene reinforced electrospun nano-interlayers on quasi-static indentation behavior of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites

The aim of this research is to investigate the development and evaluation of hybrid multi-scale aramid/epoxy composites interleaved with electrospun graphene nanoplatelets/nylon 66 (GNPs/PA66) mats. The reinforced nanofiber mats were explored for their best mechanical properties and PA66 nanofibers with 1 wt% GNPs were selected for composite production. Quasi-static indentation tests were performed on both pristine and nanofiber-modified composites. The experimental results revealed that the introduction of reinforced interleaves within the interlaminar interfaces of composites promotes fracture toughness compared to pristine interleaves. It is shown that there is a particular interleaf thickness for optimum toughening effect of nanofibers. The optimum thicknesses for pristine and reinforced interleaves are 35 and 17.5 μm, respectively.     

Effects of thermal treatment on durability of short bamboo-fibers and its reinforced composites

This study was performed to investigate the influence of heat treatment on the chemical transformation and associated improved durability of short bamboo-fibers (BF) and its reinforced composites. Results showed that cleavage of acetyl groups of the hemicelluloses developed with increasing temperature and holding time, and completed beyond 190 °C for more than 3 h, resulting in a noticeable increase of cellulose content and a substantial reduction of concentration of accessible hydroxyl groups. Heat treatment improved thermal stability and anti-UV aging properties of treated BF, and also contributed to a decrease of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of treated BF and consequent improvements of hygroscopicity and the dimensional stability of its reinforced composite. However, immoderate heat treatment for BF wasn’t in favor of improvements of hygroscopicity and the dimensional stability of BF based composites.