Effect of nanoclay on the mechanical and thermal properties of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites

The effects of nanoclay (NC) addition on the thermal and mechanical properties of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites were investigated experimentally in this study. Nanocomposite plates were produced for this purpose using three different NC ratios (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% by weight). Thermal characteristics of nanocomposites were investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The mechanical and thermal results obtained from composites with three different NC ratios were compared with the results obtained from pure composites. The structures of nanocomposites were investigated with the help of SEM-EDS analyses. Furthermore, the effect of nanoclay on the failure behavior of composites was also investigated. In this study, the highest values in all mechanical properties were obtained from samples with a 1% NC-added. Obtained from 1% NC-added samples: tensile, compressive, shear strengths, elasticity modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio values were 31.06%, 4.25%, 14.30%, 7.35%, 11.94%, and 12.5% higher, respectively, than the values obtained from pure samples. Maximum loss modulus and maximum storage modulus were obtained from samples with 1.5% and 0.5% NC-added, respectively. In samples with 1.5% NC-added, the highest Tan delta value was obtained. Glass transition temperatures increased with the added NC. It was observed that the fiber-matrix interfaces were more clearly separated in the samples with 1.5% NC-added.