Thesis
SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION OF VITRIMER–MWCNT COMPOSITE MATERIAL USING NEAR–INFRARED LIGHT FOR FAST CURING
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
01/2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004575
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/125329
Abstract
Epoxy is heavily used today in home goods and in the industries, but most epoxy material derives from toxic non-renewable petroleum feedstocks. Epoxy has a high crosslinked density giving it its remarkable mechanical properties but also making the material unrecyclable. After service life, epoxy is completely replaced, leaving landfills filled with non-recyclable, non-biodegradable plastic. There is a current movement to go “green”, but the existing industries is relying on traditional methods to manufacture materials derived from the non-renewable feedstocks. To address the dilemma, the aim of this thesis is to push the idea of replacing the industrial use of thermoset epoxy with a novel material coined “vitrimer” plastic that has the same mechanical properties as epoxy but can be recycled and reprocessed extend service life. Vitrimer’s have associative covalent adaptable networks (CANs) which allow the topology of a vitrimer to break bonds and create new ones, repairing the material without damaging the integrity and mechanical properties. This project expands epoxy vitrimer composite material research by introducing multi-walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) as a filler and to utilizev
CNT’s photothermal effect. CNTs photothermal effect can efficiently convert Near Infrared light into heat, and this same heat can be used to initially cure the epoxy vitrimer, and it can also be utilized to activate the materials repairing abilities.
(1) An Epoxy-Vitrimer/MWCNT system is used as an adhesive that utilizes the MWCNTs photothermal effect to convert NIR light to heat and to cure the surrounding matrix. An NIR lamp will be utilized for fast curing. Lap Joint samples are fabricated, and the adhesive strength will be tested. Afterword, the adhesives photothermal effect and healing ability is demonstrated by debonding and re-bonding the lap joint.
(2) The Epoxy-Vitrimer/MWCNT system will be used as an ink along with a Two-Pump Direct Ink Writing (DIW) printing system to create intricate parts. A NIR lamp is utilized to cure the printed objects quickly. The Two-Pump DIW Printer contains a static mixer at the dispensing nozzle and will mix an epoxy resin/CNT solution with the hardening agent on the spot to increase the shelf life of the ink.
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Details
- Title
- SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION OF VITRIMER–MWCNT COMPOSITE MATERIAL USING NEAR–INFRARED LIGHT FOR FAST CURING
- Creators
- Anthony Otero
- Contributors
- Jinwen Zhang (Advisor)Hang Liu (Committee Member)Roland Chen (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 92
- Identifiers
- 99900898739501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis