“Brick-and-Mortar” Nanostructured Interphase for Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
De Luca, F
Sernicola, G
Bismarck, A
Shaffer, MSP
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The fiber–matrix interface plays a critical role in determining composite mechanical properties. While a strong interface tends to provide high strength, a weak interface enables extensive debonding, leading to a high degree of energy absorption. Balancing these conflicting requirements by engineering composite interfaces to improve strength and toughness simultaneously still remains a great challenge. Here, a nanostructured fiber coating was realized to manifest the critical characteristics of natural nacre, at a reduced length scale, consistent with the surface curvature of fibers. The new interphase contains a high proportion (∼90 wt %) of well-aligned inorganic platelets embedded in a polymer; the window of suitable platelet dimensions is very narrow, with an optimized platelet width and thickness of about 130 and 13 nm, respectively. An anisotropic, nanostructured coating was uniformly and conformally deposited onto a large number of 9 μm diameter glass fibers, simultaneously, using self-limiting layer-by-layer assembly (LbL); this parallel approach demonstrates a promising strategy to exploit LbL methods at scale. The resulting nanocomposite interphase, primarily loaded in shear, provides new mechanisms for stress dissipation and plastic deformation. The energy released by fiber breakage in tension appear to spread and dissipate within the nanostructured interphase, accompanied by stable fiber slippage, while the interfacial strength was improved up to 30%.
Date Issued
2018-02-13
Date Acceptance
2018-01-25
Citation
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2018, 10 (8), pp.7352-7361
ISSN
1944-8244
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
7352
End Page
7361
Journal / Book Title
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume
10
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© 2018 American Chemical Society
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Grant Number
AERO/RB1527
Subjects
composite interphase
layer-by-layer assembly
mechanical properties
nacre-nanomimetic
single-fiber composite tests
toughening mechanisms
0904 Chemical Engineering
0303 Macromolecular And Materials Chemistry
0306 Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural)
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Publication Status
Published