Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This paper aims to compare the detrimental effects of different environmental conditions including seawater, acidic water and alkali water on the mechanical properties of nanocomposites. Nanocomposite adhesive specimens were fabricated by the inclusion of different weight percentages (0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into an epoxy adhesive. Then, the specimens were immersed in three types of water including seawater (from Persian Gulf), de-ionized water acidified with industrial hydrochloric acid (HCl) and de-ionized water alkalized with industrial sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for 360 hours. The experimental results showed that adding MWCNTs reduced the water uptake and consequently improved the mechanical properties of the adhesive. However, this improving effect depended on the environmental conditions. The nanocomposite adhesive specimen containing 0.1 wt% MWCNTs presented the lowest water uptake and the highest mechanical properties for different environmental conditions. Amongst different environmental conditions, the acidic water imposed the most deleterious effect with the highest water uptake. In seawater, the water ingress was lower than acidic water due to the existence of alkali metal oxides. Finally, the lowest water ingress and destructive effect was found to be for alkali water.

Keywords

[1]  Springer, G., “Environmental Effects on Composite Materials. Volume 3“, 1988.
[2]  Farahifar, S., Shokrieh, M. M.,  Salamat-Talab, M., “Experimental Investigation of Mode I Delamination Growth in Unidirectional E-Glass/Vinyl Ester Composites on Acid Aging“ Journal of Science and Technology of Composites, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 731-739, 2020.
[3]  Khoramishad, H.,  Abbasi, Z., “Numerical Study of the Effect of Moisture–Induced Swelling Stresses on Damage Behavior of Adhesive Joints under Static Loading“ Modares Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 189-198, 2015.
[4]  Amini, M.,  Khavandi, A., “Evaluation of the Water Absorption Content Effect on the Dielectric Properties and Tensile Strength of Polymer Composites“ Journal of Science and Technology of Composites, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 300-309, 2019.
[5]  Li, Y., Umer, R., Isakovic, A., Samad, Y. A., Zheng, L.,  Liao, K., “Synergistic Toughening of Epoxy with Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Oxide for Improved Long-Term Performance“ RSC advances, Vol. 3, No. 23, pp. 8849-8856, 2013.
[6]  Wang, P.-N., Hsieh, T.-H., Chiang, C.-L.,  Shen, M.-Y., “Synergetic Effects of Mechanical Properties on Graphene Nanoplatelet and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Hybrids Reinforced Epoxy/Carbon Fiber Composites“ Journal of Nanomaterials, Vol. 2015, 2015.
[7]  Li, W., Dichiara, A.,  Bai, J., “Carbon Nanotube–Graphene Nanoplatelet Hybrids as High-Performance Multifunctional Reinforcements in Epoxy Composites“ Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 74, pp. 221-227, 2013.
[8]  Jahan, N., Hosur, M. V.,  Jeelani, S., “Low-Velocity Impact Response of Woven Carbon Epoxy Composites with Mwcnts“ in Proceeding of  1586.
[9]  Zhou, Y., Pervin, F., Lewis, L.,  Jeelani, S., “Experimental Study on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Epoxy“ Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 452, pp. 657-664, 2007.
[10] Kim, M., Rhee, K., Lee, J., Hui, D.,  Lau, A. K., “Property Enhancement of a Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite by Using Carbon Nanotubes“ Composites Part B: Engineering, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 1257-1261, 2011.
[11] Shokrieh, M., Saeedi, A.,  Chitsazzadeh, M., “Evaluating the Effects of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on the Mechanical Properties of Chopped Strand Mat/Polyester Composites“ Materials & Design (1980-2015), Vol. 56, pp. 274-279, 2014.
[12] Fereidoon, A., Kordani, N., Rostamiyan, Y., Ganji, D.,  Ahangari, M., “Effect of Carbon Nanotubes on Adhesion Strength of E-Glass/Epoxy Composites and Alloy Aluminium Surface“ World Appl Sci J, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 204-210, 2010.
[13] Packham, D., “In Handbook of Adhesion Second Edition“,  Wiley Online Library, 2005.
[14] Adamson, M. J., “Thermal Expansion and Swelling of Cured Epoxy Resin Used in Graphite/Epoxy Composite Materials“ Journal of materials science, Vol. 15, No. 7, pp. 1736-1745, 1980.
[15] Masaro, L.,  Zhu, X., “Physical Models of Diffusion for Polymer Solutions, Gels and Solids“ Progress in polymer science, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 731-775, 1999.
[16] Drozdov, A. D., Christiansen, J. d., Gupta, R.,  Shah, A., “Model for Anomalous Moisture Diffusion through a Polymer–Clay Nanocomposite“ Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 476-492, 2003.
[17] Carter, H. G.,  Kibler, K. G., “Langmuir-Type Model for Anomalous Moisture Diffusion in Composite Resins“ Journal of composite materials, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 118-131, 1978.
[18] Doyle, G.,  Pethrick, R. A., “Environmental Effects on the Ageing of Epoxy Adhesive Joints“ International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 77-90, 2009.
[19] Popineau, S.,  Shanahan, M. E., “Simple Model to Estimate Adhesion of Structural Bonding During Humid Ageing“ International journal of adhesion and adhesives, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 363-370, 2006.
[20] Baker, A. A., Rose, L. F.,  Jones, R., “Advances in the Bonded Composite Repair of Metallic Aircraft Structure“,  Elsevier, 2003.
[21] Gledhill, R., Kinloch, A.,  Shaw, S., “A Model for Predicting Joint Durability“ The journal of Adhesion, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 3-15, 1980.
[22] Duncan, B., Urquhart, J.,  Roberts, S., “Review of Measurement and Modelling of Permeation and Diffusion in Polymers“, 2005.
[23] Brewis, D., Comyn, J.,  Tegg, J., “The Uptake of Water Vapour by an Epoxide Adhesive Formed from the Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol-a and Di-(1-Aminopropyl-3-Ethoxy) Ether“ Polymer, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 134-138, 1980.
[24] Brewis, D., Comyn, J., Raval, A.,  Kinloch, A., “The Effect of Humidity on the Durability of Aluminium-Epoxide Joints“ International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 247-253, 1990.
[25] Lin, Y.,  Chen, X., “Moisture Sorption–Desorption–Resorption Characteristics and Its Effect on the Mechanical Behavior of the Epoxy System“ Polymer, Vol. 46, No. 25, pp. 11994-12003, 2005.
[26] Apicella, A., Nicolais, L., Astarita, G.,  Drioli, E., “Effect of Thermal History on Water Sorption, Elastic Properties and the Glass Transition of Epoxy Resins“ Polymer, Vol. 20, No. 9, pp. 1143-1148, 1979.
[27] De'Nève, B.,  Shanahan, M., “Water Absorption by an Epoxy Resin and Its Effect on the Mechanical Properties and Infra-Red Spectra“ Polymer, Vol. 34, No. 24, pp. 5099-5105, 1993.
[28] Xu, S., Dillard, D. A.,  Dillard, J. G., “Environmental Aging Effects on the Durability of Electrically Conductive Adhesive Joints“ International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 235-250, 2003.
[29] De Nève, B.,  Shanahan, M., “Effects of Humidity on an Epoxy Adhesive“ International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 191-196, 1992.