Characterization of epoxy hybrid composites filled with cellulose fibers and nano-SiC

H. Alamri, I. M. Low

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three different approaches have been applied and investigated to enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy resin. Epoxy system reinforced with either recycled cellulose fibers (RCF) or nanosilicon carbide (n-SiC) particles as well as with both RCF and n-SiC has been fabricated and investigated. The effect of RCF/n-SiC dispersion on the mechanical and thermal properties of these composites has been characterized. The fracture surface morphology and toughness mechanisms were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The dispersion of n-SiC particles into epoxy nanocomposites was studied by synchrotron radiation diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Results indicated that mechanical properties increased as a result of the addition of n-SiC. The presence of RCF layers significantly increased the mechanical properties of RCF/epoxy composites when compared with neat epoxy and its nanocomposites. The influence of the addition of n-SiC to RCF/epoxy composites in mechanical properties was found to be positive in toughness properties. At high temperatures, thermal stability of neat epoxy increased due to the presence of either n-SiC particles or RCF layers. However, the presence of RCF accelerated the thermal degradation of neat epoxy as well as the addition of n-SiC to RCF/epoxy samples increased the rate of the major thermal degradation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)E222-E232
Number of pages1
JournalJournal of Applied Polymer Science
Volume126
Issue numberS1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 6 2012
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: The authors thank Ms. E. Miller from Applied Physics at Curtin University of Technology for assistance with SEM, Dr. Rachid Sougrat from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for performing the TEM images, Andreas Viereckl of Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University for the help with Charpy impact test, and Dr. Zied Alothman from King Saud University for assistance with TGA experiment. The collection of synchrotron powder diffraction data was funded by the Australian Synchrotron (PD-1654).
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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