Mechanical and electrical properties of a MWNT/epoxy composite

Aïssa Allaoui (1) , Shuo Bai (2) , Hui-Ming Cheng (2) , Jinbo Bai (1)

1 MSSMat - Laboratoire de mécanique des sols, structures et matériaux
2 IMR - Institute of Metals Research

Multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy resin composites have been fabricated. By choosing an over-aged hardener, relatively soft and ductile matrix, a rubbery epoxy resin, has been obtained. This made possible to evaluate the effect of nanotube addition on the whole stress-strain curve up to high strain level. The mechanical and electrical properties of the composite with different weight percentages of nanotubes have been investigated. The Young's modulus and the yield strength have been doubled and quadrupled for composites with respectively 1 and 4 wt.% nanotubes, compared to the pure resin matrix samples. Conductivity measurements on the composite samples showed that the insulator-to-conductor transition took place for nanotube concentration between 0.5% and 1 wt.%.

Mots clés: Mechanical properties; Electrical properties; Multi-walled carbon nanotubes

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

Aïssa Allaoui, Shuo Bai, Hui-Ming Cheng, Jinbo Bai. Mechanical and electrical properties of a MWNT/epoxy composite. Composites Science and Technology, 2002, 62, pp.1993-1998. ⟨10.1016/S0266-3538(02)00129-X⟩. ⟨hal-00411072⟩