Enhancement of Elastic Modulus of Epoxy Resin with Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Nanocomposites consisting of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and epoxy resin were produced by a standard calendaring technique. In this study, 3% multiwall carbon nanotube particles were dispersed in epoxy resin by weight to produce the multiwall carbon nanotubes/epoxy composite. Nanohardness and Raman spectroscopy tests were used to obtain the modulus of elasticity and Raman intensity of MWCNTs/ epoxy resin composite. The results show that the Raman intensity increased with the increase of Raman shift and Raman intensity also affected with the reinforcement of multiwall carbon nanotubes and 1% exposure of laser power. Also, nanohardness increased with increase of modulus of elasticity, which indicated that the toughness of epoxy resin improved with the addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes.