Effects of dispersing methods on the properties of low content carbon nanotubes-glass fiber/epoxy reisn laminates

Epoxy resin enhanced with low content carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed by ultrasonic disruption and ultrasonic agitation was prepared, and the influences of CNTs on the curing behavior, rheological property and mechanical properties of epoxy resin were studied. The CNTs-glass fiber/epoxy resin laminates filled with 0.01% mass fraction of CNTs were fabricated using vacuum assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM). The effects of CNTs with the two dispersing methods on the mechanical properties of composite laminates and the enhancing mechanism of CNTs were investigated. The results show that the ultrasonic disruption can shorten the CNTs and improve their dispersion state in the resin.compared with the CNTs dispersed by the ultrasonic agitation, the influences of the CNTs dispersed by the ultrasonic disruption on the increasing viscosity and curing reaction of epoxy resin are more obvious. The flexural property, interlaminar shear strength of the laminates and the bonding strength between the resin and the glass fiber are improved using double VARIM, while the CNTs enhancing effects are not significant using single VARIM. This outcome demonstrates that due to the filter effect of fibers, low content of CNTs can increase the properties of composite laminates molded using VARIM with suitable infusion molding and dispersing method of CNTs.