Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Resin Nanocomposite Reinforced by CuO-GO Hybrid

In this study, an epoxy-based nanocomposite reinforced with copper oxide-graphene oxide hybrid was investigated. Initially, the hybrid powder of CuO-GO with a weight ratio of 9:1 was prepared. The hybrid filler with different weight percentages ranging from 0.1-0.5 was used to reinforce the epoxy resin. The prepared samples were analyzed using XRD, FTIR, FESEM, TEM, and tensile testing. According to the XRD results and SEM images, the hybrid powder was successfully prepared, and the mechanical testing results showed an improvement in tensile strength in the composite samples. The best composite sample in terms of tensile strength was the one containing 0.3 wt% of hybrid reinforcement, which exhibited a 71% and 161% increase in the tensile strength and elastic modulus, respectively, as compared to the neat resin sample.