An experimental study of the effects of carbon nanotube and graphene addition on the impact strength of Epoxy/Basalt fiber composite

As the nanoscale materials and nano-composites are increasingly used in everyday life and industrial applications, extensive research has begun into this field. For this reason, in the course of previous research, carbon nanotubes and nano-graphene materials were added separately with weight percentages of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 in the composite phase consisting of epoxy resin and basalt fiber, and nano-composites laminates with 6 layers of basalt fiber were made through hand layup. In order to determine the amount of energy absorbed during impact, composite and nanocomposite samples were subjected to Charpy impact test, and the specimen deformations were studied under electron microscopy. An increase in the energy absorbed by samples containing nanoscale materials with all weight percentages was observed in comparison with conventional composite specimens. The highest increase in absorbed energy in nanocomposite samples with regard to the composite specimens was observed in samples containing 0.1% graphene particles by weight. The highest increase in absorbed energy in carbon nanotubes composites was detected in samples consisting of 0.3% carbon nanotubes in the matrix.