Experimental investigation of the effect of hygrothermal aging on the mechanical performance of carbon nanotube/PA6 nanocomposite

Abstract

The effect of hygrothermal aging on the mechanical behaviour of polyamide 6 (PA6) material filled with 10 wt % multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated experimentally. Young's modulus and flexural modulus of the materials are decreased by more than 30% for the conditions of 25°C/85% RH, compared to the reference conditions of 25°C/55% RH (RT), while the flexural strength by 6–17%. The decrease is larger for the conditions of 40°C/85% RH, which reveals that the effect of combined elevated temperature and moisture is more severe. The decrease in the properties is smaller for the MWCNT/PA6 specimens, which shows that the presence of MWCNTs mitigates the effect of hygrothermal aging. Finally, it is observed that the increase in the properties of the MWCNT/PA6 material is so large, for the specific MWCNT concentration, that it compensates the negative effect of hygrothermal aging.

Keywords

Carbon nanotubes hygrothermal aging PA6 material nanocomposites

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