Compressive properties and thermal stability of hybrid carbon nanotube-alumina filled epoxy nanocomposites

The multi-scale hybridisation of carbon nanotube (CNT) and alumina (Al2O3) was synthesised by using chemical vapour deposition. The idea of hybridisation between the CNT and Al2O3 particles is to prevent the agglomeration of the CNT due to van der Waals attractions. The Al2O3 particles work as "vehicles" for the CNTs to disperse homogenously in the epoxy matrix and improve the particle/matrix interface. Epoxy composites with the CNT-Al2O3 hybrid compound were observed to exhibit an enhancement of 117% and 148% in compressive strength and compressive modulus, respectively. Similarly, thermal stability improvement has also been observed for the CNT-Al2O3 hybrid compound epoxy composite system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.