Effect of aging on the reinforcement efficiency of carbon nanotubes in epoxy matrix

Aïssa Allaoui (1) , Pierre Evesque (1) , Jinbo Bai (1)

1 MSSMat - Laboratoire de mécanique des sols, structures et matériaux

The reinforcement efficiency of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in epoxy matrix was investigated in the elastic regime. Cyclic uniaxial tensile tests were performed at constant strain amplitude and increasing maximum strain. Post-curing of the epoxy and its composite at a temperature close to the glass transition temperature allowed us to explore the effect of aging on the reinforcement efficiency of CNT. It is found that the reinforcement efficiency is compatible with a mean field mixture rule of stress reinforcement by random inclusions. It also diminishes when the maximum strain increased and this effect is amplified by aging. The decrease of elastic modulus with increasing cyclic maximum strain is quite similar to the one observed for filled elastomers with increasing strain amplitude, a phenomenon often referred as the Payne effect.

Mots clés: Carbon Nanotubes; Mechanical Properties; Polymer Matrix-Composites; Aging; Payne Effect; Payne Effect.

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Aïssa Allaoui, Pierre Evesque, Jinbo Bai. Effect of aging on the reinforcement efficiency of carbon nanotubes in epoxy matrix. Journal of Materials Science, 2008, 43 (14), pp.5020-5022. ⟨10.1007/s10853-008-2728-5⟩. ⟨hal-00366397⟩