Effect of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Mechanical Properties of Nanocomposites

The single – walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) incorporated into resin matrix with different weight concentrations ranging about (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1 wt. %), the nanocomposites are synthesized by a casting method. In this investigation, there are improvements of mechanical properties due to the homogeneous dispersion of SWCNTs into the epoxy matrix. SWCNTs/epoxy nanocomposites are achieved through the use of sonication technique for 10 minutes. In this work, many mechanical tests were done for the nanocomposites such as: tensile test, bending test and hardness test. Also many examinations were utilized to evaluate the microstructure of nanocomposite, like scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The results of this work reveal that obviously an improvement in mechanical properties of the fabricated nanocomposites, such as young’s modulus, ultimate tensile strength, bending strength and Shore hardness. Also the micrographs of SEM examination demonstrated that SWCNTs are homogeneously dispersed into epoxy. On the other hand, the results of Raman spectra and XRD showed the same results for SEM. Finally, the increment in young’s modulus, ultimate tensile strength, bending strength and Shore hardness are about (2.12 GPa, 39.3 MPa, 8.28 MPa, 74.2) respectively.