Healable Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy/Cyclic Olefin Copolymer Composites

Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) particles were dispersed in various amounts in an epoxy matrix, and the resulting blends were used to impregnate unidirectional carbon fibers (CF) by hand lay-up. The thermal stability was not substantially modified by the presence of COC particles. The mixture of the t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Haroon Mahmood, Andrea Dorigato, Alessandro Pegoretti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/13/9/2165
Description
Summary:Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) particles were dispersed in various amounts in an epoxy matrix, and the resulting blends were used to impregnate unidirectional carbon fibers (CF) by hand lay-up. The thermal stability was not substantially modified by the presence of COC particles. The mixture of the two polymers resulted in a phase separated blend and the flexural modulus and interlaminar shear strength progressively decreased with the addition of COC particles in the laminates. Mode I fracture toughness tests were executed on double cantilever beam specimens. The opened crack was then thermally mended at 190 °C for 1 h. The laminates containing 30 wt.% of COC particles showed a healing efficiency of ~180%.
ISSN:1996-1944