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Recycled carbon fiber filled polyethylene composites
Author(s) -
McNally Tony,
Boyd Peter,
McClory Caroline,
Bien Daniel,
Moore Ian,
Millar Bronagh,
Davidson John,
Carroll Tony
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.27253
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , polyethylene , scanning electron microscope , ultimate tensile strength , raman spectroscopy , modulus , fiber , percolation threshold , compounding , dynamic mechanical analysis , elastic modulus , composite number , young's modulus , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , dispersion (optics) , polymer , electrical resistivity and conductivity , chemical engineering , physics , electrical engineering , engineering , optics
Composites of recycled carbon fiber (CF) with up to 30 wt % loading with polyethylene (PE) were prepared via melt compounding. The morphology of the composites and the degree of dispersion of the CF in the PE matrix was examined using scanning electron microscopy, and revealed the CF to be highly dispersed at all loadings and strong interfacial adhesion to exist between the CF and PE. Raman and FTIR spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface chemistry and potential bonding sites of recycled CF. Both the Young's modulus and ultimate tensile stress increased with increasing CF loading, but the percentage stress at break was unchanged up to 5 wt % loading, then decreased with further successive addition of CF. The effect of CF on the elastic modulus of PE was examined using the Halpin‐Tsai and modified Cox models, the former giving a better fit with the values determined experimentally. The electrical conductivity of the PE matrix was enhanced by about 11 orders of magnitude on addition of recycled CF with a percolation threshold of 7 and 15 wt % for 500‐μm and 3‐mm thick samples. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008