The effect of CNT orientation on erosive wear resistance of CNT-epoxy based composites

What is it about?

The erosive wear behaviour of epoxy matrix composites reinforced with both randomly dispersed and aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays has been studied. Results have shown that the composite with vertically aligned CNT-arrays exhibits superior erosive wear resistance compared to any of the other types of composites, and the erosion rate reaches a similar performance level to that of carbon steel at 20 degree impingement angle. The erosive wear mechanism of this type of composite, at various impingement angles, is studied by SEM, which shows strong dependence on the alignment geometries of CNTs within the epoxy matrix under identical nanotube loading fractions.

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Why is it important?

Aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer composites are envisioned as the next-generation composite materials for a wide range of applications. This work demonstrates methods to fabricate CNT based polymer composites with high loading fractions of the filler, alignment control of nanotubes and optimized erosive wear properties.