Application of silanized carbon nanotubes for enhanced durability of polymer matrix compoistes in LEO environment

Abstract

Recent advances in the development of nanomaterials and nanocomposites have raised much interest in the aerospace sector. Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) obtained by uniform dispersion of nanoscopically sized filler particles in a polymer matrix have received a great deal of attention in both the academia and industry since the 1990s. In contrast to conventional composites, PNCs are featured by the incorporation of fillers with a size of less than 100 nanometers. The key features in design and behaviour of PNCs include the size and property of the nanofiller, and the interface between the nanofiller and matrix. Recently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based nanocomposites have been widely investigated. The intense interest in CNTs as a very attractive reinforcement material for high-strength structural and high-performance functional polymer composites is due to CNT’s unique properties such as high aspect ratio, low density, excellent mechanical strength, and good electrical and thermal conductivity. In the aerospace applications, CNTs possess great potential as fillers for both structural and functional materials. To reduce the weight of aircraft, CNT-based polymer materials are being considered as potential replacement for structural materials of non-load bearing components presently made with other composites or metal; these CNT-based polymer materials are also being applied as functional materials for spacecraft to protect critical parts against electrostatic discharge. Among the polymer matrices, epoxy resins have been used predominantly as thermosetting matrices for aerospace composites due to their high-dimensional stability at elevated temperatures, good chemical and corrosion resistance, high tensile strength, high modulus, low percentage shrinkage in cure, and reasonably low toxicity. However, poor dispersion and weak interfacial adhesion between the CNTs and the epoxy matrix have limited the wider usage of CNT/epoxy nanocomposites. The chemical functionaliz...