A novel failure analysis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in epoxy matrix

The failure analysis of reinforcing elements is of great significance to understand the structure-property relationship in polymer composites. Herein, we reported an improved methodology to ascertain and contrast the failure modes from one pair of homologous fracture surfaces of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/epoxy samples at high-magnification using scanning electron microscopy. Three possible failure modes of MWCNTs, i.e. pullout, immediate fracture and sliding-fracture, were proposed to account for the fractographic observation. Based on this approach, the failure modes of MWCNTs before and after surface modification were quantitatively discussed.