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Carbon nanotubes: do they toughen brittle matrices?

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Abstract

The development of a model CNT-brittle matrix composite system, based on SiO2 glass containing well-dispersed CNTs at up to 15 wt%, allows a direct assessment of the effect of the nanoscale filler on fracture toughness (K IC). Samples were prepared by colloidal heterocoagulation followed by spark plasma sintering. Detailed K IC measurements, using both indentation and notched beam techniques, show a linear improvement with CNT content, with up to a twofold increase of fracture toughness at maximum loading. The results from the two methods used in this study show equivalent trends but differing absolute values; the relative merits of these two approaches to measuring nanocomposite toughness are compared. Possible toughening mechanisms associated with CNT pull-out, crack bridging, and crack deflection are identified, and discussed quantitatively, drawing on conventional short-fibre composite theory and the potential effects of scaling fibre diameter.

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Acknowledgements

The research carried out at IPM, Brno, Czech Republic (chevron notch fracture toughness measurement), was supported by the Czech Science Foundation under grant number 101/09/1821.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    Johann Cho & Aldo R. Boccaccini

  2. Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    Johann Cho & Milo S. P. Shaffer

  3. Nanoforce Technology Ltd and School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, UK

    Fawad Inam & Mike J. Reece

  4. Institute of Physics of Materials, ASCR, 61662, Brno, Czech Republic

    Zdeněk Chlup & Ivo Dlouhy

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

    Aldo R. Boccaccini

Authors
  1. Johann Cho
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  2. Fawad Inam
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  3. Mike J. Reece
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  4. Zdeněk Chlup
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  5. Ivo Dlouhy
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  6. Milo S. P. Shaffer
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  7. Aldo R. Boccaccini
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Milo S. P. Shaffer or Aldo R. Boccaccini.

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Cho, J., Inam, F., Reece, M.J. et al. Carbon nanotubes: do they toughen brittle matrices?. J Mater Sci 46, 4770–4779 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-011-5387-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-011-5387-x

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