Interlaminar shear property of modified glass fiber-reinforced polymer with different MWCNTs

The interlaminar shear property of composites remains a serious concern in application. In this article, five different multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are tried to improve the interlaminar shear property of composites, including two MWCNTs (MWCNTs-A and MWCNTs-B) different with diameters and lengths, an orientated MWCNTs (MWCNTs-C), a film-shaped MWCNTs-A (MWCNTs-D), and a surface-treated MWCNTs-B (MWCNTs-E). The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the composites, filled with one of the above-mentioned materials as a constituent is investigated. The best ILSS increases by 8.16% from 24.5 MPa to 26.5 MPa with MWCNTs-E. In addition, the dispersion of MWCNTs in a glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) is researched by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in association with the ILSS results.