Thermophysical and mechanical properties of Bisphenol A epoxy resin filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Dilatometric tests, thermal mechanical analysis (TMA), quasistatic tensile tests, hydrostatic weighting, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed on the multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/epoxy nanocomposite (NC) with different filler content (c = 0–3.8% wt.) in order to determine the influence of MWCNT content on the thermophysical and mechanical properties of NC. The experimental results show the physical properties versus the nanofiller content and the existence of the optimal MWCNT content (1% wt.) in epoxy resin that maximally improves the thermophysical properties of NC in comparison with unfilled epoxy. Thus, NC with 1% wt. filler content shows the maximal decrease of thermal expansion coefficient by 68%, the maximal increase of glass transition temperature and tensile strength by 23 °C and 18%, respectively. Comparing the results it can be seen that after exceeding the defined optimal filler content over 1% wt. the investigated properties get worse. The correlation between the investigated mechanical and thermophysical properties is estimated and reported.