An experimental investigation of the effect of the type of nanostructured reinforcements on the mechanical and tribological properties of epoxy based nanocomposites

In this paper, the effect of three different types of nanostructured reinforcements on the mechanical and tribological properties of nanocomposites are investigated. Carbon nanotube, nanoclay and nanographene oxide with equal weight percentages and under similar environmental conditions are added into the epoxy resin. To achieve uniformly dispersed nanoparticles within the epoxy matrix, mechanical stirring with ultra-sonication is utilized. After degassing process, tensile and wear test specimens were made according to the relative standards. Three samples of each nanocomposite were prepared and tested. Young's modulus, ultimate tensile strength, strain at break point and toughness of the specimens were extracted from the stress-strain curve using the tensile test. Dry wear test was performed at 20N, 60N and 100N loads using a disk on pin testing machine at room temperature. The results showed that in the sample containing carbon nanotubes, the ultimate stress increased by 16% and the strain at the break point increased by 27% compared to pure epoxy. Also, carbon nanotube/epoxy and nanoclay/epoxy nanocomposites showed the highest wear resistance compared to other samples, so that in the sample containing nanoclay reinforcement, a 60% decrease in the amount of wear rate was observed compared to the pure epoxy sample.