Synthesis of Plate-Like Nanoalumina and Its Effect on Gas Permeability of Carbon Fiber Epoxy Composite

In recent years considerable efforts have been made to develop gas impermeable polymer systems. Compared with metal system counterparts they have advantages such as low density and production costs. The most important challenge in development of impermeable polymer systems is to reduce their gas permeability by proper selection of system composition and process conditions. In this work, nanoparticles were initially synthesized using Al (NO3)3•9H2O and sodium dodecyl sulfate as a structure-directing agent via hydrothermal method and a plate-like structure was characterized by FESEM and EDAX analyses. In the second step, epoxy/plate-like nanoalumina nanocomposites and epoxy-carbon fiber composites containing 1, 2.5, and 5 wt% nanoalumina were prepared. The effect of nanoparticle loading level on permeability of nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide in epoxy/plate-like nanoalumina nanocomposites was investigated. It was observed that the permeability of epoxy/plate-like nanoalumina nanocomposites toward nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide gases reduced 83%, 74%, and 50%, respectively. It was deduced that the permeability reduction was clearly associated with the diameter of gas molecules. Generally speaking, the results showed that the incorporation of plate-like nanoalumina particles significantly reduced the gas permeability. Also, carbon dioxide gas permeability of carbon fiber epoxy composites containing plate-like nanoalumina was investigated to show the effect of ingredients on the gas permeability of the system. The results indicated that carbon dioxide gas permeability of epoxy carbon fiber composite containing 5 wt% of plate-like nanoalumina was totally reduced 84%.