Thesis
Wetting behavior and curing kinetics of carbon nanofibers modified epoxy resins
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2010
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100565
Abstract
Nanoparticles can not only influence many properties of epoxy resins but also affect the wetting behaviors and curing processes of the resulting resins as matrices in using fiber reinforced composites. In this research work, wetting characteristics and curing kinetics of epoxy resins modified by as-received graphitic nanofibers (as-GNFs), oxidized GNFs (ox-GNFs), and a type of reactive GNFs (re-GNFs). The dynamic wetting behavior, surface tension, and viscosity of the modified epoxy matrices were characterized. The experimental results showed that the re-GNFs contributed to improved wetting behaviors for epoxy resins. Furthermore, the re-GNFs modified epoxy also showed reduced viscosity, which was different from increased viscosity in the traditional polymer nanocomposites. The curing processes of the commercial epoxy resin (EPON 828) and the re-GNFs modified epoxy samples were evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under the linear heating regimes. The activation energy of the two systems was determined based on model-free method. The results indicated that the addition of the re-GNFs offered a catalytic action for cure reaction of epoxy resin at high temperature range so that the larger extent of cure was obtained over pure epoxy. The improved wetting characteristics and faster curing behaviors of the re-GNFs modified epoxy system will be significant for enabling energy efficient infusion processing for manufacturing high quality and high performance structural composite applications.
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Details
- Title
- Wetting behavior and curing kinetics of carbon nanofibers modified epoxy resins
- Creators
- Yu Fu
- Contributors
- Weihong Zhong (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical and Materials Engineering, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900524807901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis