Viscosity of CNT Loaded Epoxy Resin

Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2018     |     PP. 1-9      |     PDF (324 K)    |     Pub. Date: April 1, 2018
DOI:    302 Downloads     7693 Views  

Author(s)

Hector Estrada, School of Engineering and Computer Science - University of the Pacific - 3601 Pacific Avenue - Stockton CA 95211
Luke S. Lee, School of Engineering and Computer Science - University of the Pacific - 3601 Pacific Avenue - Stockton CA 95211
Jonathan Trovillion, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory - U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Centre - 2902 Newmark Dr - Champaign, IL 61822
Maciej Tusz, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory - U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Centre - 2902 Newmark Dr - Champaign, IL 61822
Ashok Kumar, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory - U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Centre - 2902 Newmark Dr - Champaign, IL 61822
and Larry D. Stephenson, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory - U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Centre - 2902 Newmark Dr - Champaign, IL 61822

Abstract
The processing of fibre reinforced carbon nanotube (CNT) loaded polymer composites (nanocomposites) requires that CNTs be mixed (or loaded) into the polymer prior to impregnating the fibres to fabricate a nanocomposite. The fabrication process uses vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM), which is complicated due to the increase in viscosity of CNT loaded resin. The goal of this paper is to experimentally characterize the viscosity of a CNT loaded epoxy resin, with different weight percentages and shear rates. The maximum viscosities measured for the samples were: 800 cP for 0.2 %wt., 750 cP for 0.4%wt., and 890 cP for 0.6 %wt. All samples exhibited shear thinning behaviour as the viscosity decreased with increased shear rates.

Keywords
Carbon Nanotubes, viscosity, epoxy

Cite this paper
Hector Estrada, Luke S. Lee, Jonathan Trovillion, Maciej Tusz, Ashok Kumar, and Larry D. Stephenson, Viscosity of CNT Loaded Epoxy Resin , SCIREA Journal of Materials. Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2018 | PP. 1-9.

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