Greatly enhanced cryogenic mechanical properties of short carbon fiber/polyethersulfone composites by graphene oxide coating

Abstract In order to employ polyethersulfone (PES) in cryogenic engineering field, its cryogenic mechanical performance should be examined and should also be improved to meet the high requirement for cryogenic engineering application. In this work, pure PES, graphene oxide (GO)/PES, short carbon fiber (SCF)/PES, GO/SCF/PES and GO-coated SCF/PES composites are prepared using the extrusion compounding and injection molding techniques. The tensile and flexural properties of these composites are systematically investigated at a typical cryogenic temperature (77 K). It is shown that the cryogenic mechanical properties are enhanced by the addition of GO, SCFs and coated-SCFs. In particular, the GO-coated SCF/PES composites display the greatly enhanced cryogenic mechanical properties with the highest values compared to other PES composites. In addition, it is exhibited that the cryogenic mechanical properties at 77 K of PES and its composites are far higher than those at room temperature (RT).

[1]  I. Ward,et al.  A promising conductive material: highly oriented polypropylene filled with short vapour-grown carbon fibres , 2001 .

[2]  S. Fu,et al.  Characterization of tensile behaviour of hybrid short glass fibre/calcite particle/ABS composites , 1998 .

[3]  Lan Yao,et al.  Improving carbon fiber adhesion to polyimide with atmospheric pressure plasma treatment , 2011 .

[4]  T. Tanaka,et al.  Mechanical properties of injection-molded carbon fiber/polypropylene composites hybridized with nanofillers , 2013 .

[5]  Lee Luong,et al.  Epoxy/graphene platelets nanocomposites with two levels of interface strength , 2011 .

[6]  S. Iannace,et al.  Nanofilled polyethersulfone as matrix for continuous glass fibers composites: Mechanical properties and solvent resistance† , 2010 .

[7]  J. Bijwe,et al.  Influence of fiber–matrix adhesion and operating parameters on sliding wear performance of carbon fabric polyethersulphone composites , 2011 .

[8]  I. Seo,et al.  DC breakdown characteristics of silicone polymer composites for HVDC insulator applications , 2015 .

[9]  H. Dai,et al.  Highly conducting graphene sheets and Langmuir-Blodgett films. , 2008, Nature nanotechnology.

[10]  Guo-Qing Huang,et al.  Electrochemical sensor for Isoniazid based on the glassy carbon electrode modified with reduced graphene oxide-Au nanomaterials. , 2015, Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications.

[11]  J. Bijwe,et al.  Gamma radiation treatment of carbon fabric to improve the fiber–matrix adhesion and tribo-performance of composites , 2011 .

[12]  S. Fu,et al.  Preparation and cryogenic mechanical properties of epoxy resins modified by poly(ethersulfone) , 2008 .

[13]  Yudong Huang,et al.  Surface analysis of plasma grafted carbon fiber , 2006 .

[14]  T. Takeda,et al.  Cryogenic through-thickness tensile characterization of plain woven glass/epoxy composite laminates using cross specimens: Experimental test and finite element analysis , 2015 .

[15]  J. Bijwe,et al.  Carbon fabric reinforced polyetherimide composites: Influence of weave of fabric and processing parameters on performance properties and erosive wear , 2006 .

[16]  Jincai Zhang,et al.  Microstructure and thermal/mechanical properties of short carbon fiber-reinforced natural graphite flake composites with mesophase pitch as the binder , 2013 .

[17]  T. Takeda,et al.  Tensile Characterization of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composites at Cryogenic Temperatures: Experimens and Multiscale Simulations , 2009 .

[18]  S. Fu,et al.  The reinforcing effect of graphene nanosheets on the cryogenic mechanical properties of epoxy resins , 2012 .

[19]  Ji‐Zhao Liang.  Predictions of tensile strength of short inorganic fibre reinforced polymer composites , 2011 .

[20]  A. Mimaroglu,et al.  Friction and wear behaviour of unfilled engineering thermoplastics , 2003 .

[21]  Yang Yang,et al.  High-throughput solution processing of large-scale graphene. , 2009, Nature nanotechnology.

[22]  Robiah Yunus,et al.  Effect of fiber length on thermomechanical properties of short carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene composites , 2009 .

[23]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Graphene-based polymer nanocomposites , 2011 .

[24]  V. V. Tcherdyntsev,et al.  Investigation of structure, mechanical and tribological properties of short carbon fiber reinforced UHMWPE-matrix composites , 2015 .

[25]  J. Bijwe,et al.  Abrasive wear studies on composites of PEEK and PES with modified surface of carbon fabric , 2011 .

[26]  David P. Anderson,et al.  Processing and characterization of aligned vapor grown carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene , 2002 .

[27]  Yonggang Huang,et al.  Reinforcement of epoxy resins with multi-walled carbon nanotubes for enhancing cryogenic mechanical properties , 2009 .

[28]  Sliding performance of polymer composites in liquid hydrogen and liquid nitrogen , 2004 .

[29]  Fei Li,et al.  Enhanced mechanical properties of short carbon fiber reinforced polyethersulfone composites by graphene oxide coating , 2015 .

[30]  A. Rozanski,et al.  Forced assembly by multilayer coextrusion to create oriented graphene reinforced polymer nanocomposites , 2014 .

[31]  R. Verdejo,et al.  Epoxy-Graphene UV-cured nanocomposites , 2011 .

[32]  L. Ye,et al.  Cryogenic properties of SiO2/epoxy nanocomposites , 2005 .

[33]  R. Guan,et al.  Sulfonation of Polyethersulfone by Chlorosulfonic Acid , 2005 .

[34]  S. Fu,et al.  Cryogenic mechanical behaviors of MMT/epoxy nanocomposites , 2007 .

[35]  S. Fu,et al.  Analysis of Mechanical Properties of Injection Molded Short Glass Fibre (SGF)/Calcite/ABS Composites , 2009 .

[36]  S. Stankovich,et al.  Synthesis of graphene-based nanosheets via chemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide , 2007 .

[37]  Hong-Mei Xiao,et al.  Improved cryogenic interlaminar shear strength of glass fabric/epoxy composites by graphene oxide , 2015 .

[38]  Joon-Hyung Byun,et al.  Partially reduced graphene oxide as a multi-functional sizing agent for carbon fiber composites by electrophoretic deposition , 2013 .

[39]  É. Dantras,et al.  Preparation of aqueous dispersion of thermoplastic sizing agent for carbon fiber by emulsion/solvent evaporation , 2013 .

[40]  Xiao Hu,et al.  EFFECTS OF FIBER LENGTH AND ORIENTATION DISTRIBUTIONS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SHORT-FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMERS , 1999 .

[41]  Lixin Wu,et al.  Improving the interlaminar properties of polymer composites using a situ accumulation method to construct the multi-scale reinforcement of carbon nanofibers/carbon fibers , 2015 .

[42]  T. Tang,et al.  Synergetic effect of epoxy resin and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene on improving mechanical properties of polypropylene/short carbon fiber composites , 2014 .

[43]  Y. Mai,et al.  Combined effect of fiber content and microstructure on the fracture toughness of SGF and SCF reinforced polypropylene composites , 2002 .

[44]  Chunxiang Lu,et al.  Improved interfacial adhesion in carbon fiber/polyether sulfone composites through an organic solvent-free polyamic acid sizing , 2013 .

[45]  S. Fu,et al.  Cryogenic mechanical behaviors of carbon nanotube reinforced composites based on modified epoxy by poly(ethersulfone) , 2012 .

[46]  Jie Yin,et al.  Kevlar®-functionalized graphene nanoribbon for polymer reinforcement , 2014 .

[47]  Hongwei He,et al.  Kinetic and thermodynamics analysis of water absorption in unidirectional fiber reinforced composites by polyethersulphone and polyphenylence sulfide , 2011 .

[48]  Baowen Li,et al.  Thermal expansion in single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene: Nonequilibrium Green's function approach , 2009, 0909.1917.

[49]  A. Pomogailo,et al.  Mechanical properties of epoxy composites based on silver nanoparticles formed in situ , 2014, Polymer Science Series A.

[50]  R. Stoltenberg,et al.  Evaluation of solution-processed reduced graphene oxide films as transparent conductors. , 2008, ACS nano.

[51]  G. Sui,et al.  Hybrid effect of nanoparticles with carbon fibers on the mechanical and wear properties of polymer composites , 2012 .

[52]  J. Leng,et al.  Property enhancement of polymer-based composites at cryogenic environment by using tailored carbon nanotubes , 2013 .