Study of the influence of graphene and carbon nanotubes buckypapers on the mechanical behavior of PAEK/Carbon fibers composite

• Grant number: 19/25285-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Edson Cocchieri Botelho
• Grantee: Gabriel Damasceno Feres
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEG). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Guaratinguetá. Guaratinguetá , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Polymeric composites are materials of great importance to the aerospace industry due to their excellent properties associated with low density, as well as their ease of processing complex shapes. Nowadays, the demand for multifunctional materials is growing, that is, materials that not only have excellent mechanical properties but also add thermal, electrical, magnetic and other improvements. Within this context, nanostructured composites based on the addition of carbon nanotubes and graphene stand out. In this work, buck papers of carbon nanotubes and graphene will be processed from the vacuum filtration technique and, later, their morphology will be evaluated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The polymeric matrix, poly (aril ether ketone) PAEK with and without the addition of buck papers will be evaluated by thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The nanostructured composites of PAEK/carbon fibers and buck papers will be processed by hot compression molding and the qualities of the processed materials will be made through the acid digestion, which will help in the determination of the volumetric fraction of fibers and voids, and optical microscopy for the evaluation of the compaction of the material, as well as the presence of possible defects from the processing. Subsequently, the evaluation of the influence of the addition of graphene and carbon nanotubes buck papers will be performed from the following tests: DMA, impulse excitation, Interlaminar Shear Strength (ILSS) and Compression Shear Test (CST). Finally, this research work will explore the feasibility of using carbon nanotubes and graphene bukypaper in the processing of multifunctional polymeric composites with structural applications in the aerospace sector.