Mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy/clay nanocomposites

Epoxy/clay nanocomposites (ENCs) were fabricated from TGDDM epoxy and montmorillonite nanoclay. Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy/clay nanocomposites (CFRENCs) were manufactured through hot melt lay-up plus autoclave process. The CFRENCs have uniform fiber volume fraction, very few dry spots, and very few resin rich areas. The interlaminar fracture toughness of CFRENCs was increased by 85% with the introduction of 4 phr nanoclay in epoxy. Small amount of nanoclay (2 phr) added into the epoxy of carbon/epoxy composites can enhance the flexural strength by 38%.