In this work, mechanical properties of a carbon fiber (CF) reinforced epoxy (Ep) (CFRE) laminate are significantly improved, and self-healing properties are imparted to it. This laminate is also successfully recycled using our proprietary environment friendly solution SalSOTM. A polyetherimide termed as BA is prepared by mixing 4,4’-(4,4’-Isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalic anhydride) and 4-aminophenyl disulfide. A functionalized graphene oxide termed as hGO is also prepared. hGO is tagged to BA, termed as BAhGO. CF reinforcement is sized with a small amount of BAhGO, and a small amount of hGO is dispersed in Ep matrix. The resultant laminate termed as BAhGO-CFRE-hGO exhibits 44% increase in flexural strength (FS) and 41% increase in interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) over neat CFRE laminate. It also exhibits 61% self-healing efficiency in ILSS. BAhGO-CFRE-hGO laminate is dissolved in SalSOTM with almost 100% recovery of matrix Ep, termed as rEp, and reinforcement CF, termed as rCF. rEp is used as hardener for Ep, and the resultant Ep, termed as Ep-rEp, exhibits 3% higher tensile strength than Ep prepared using conventional hardener. The laminate fabricated by using Ep-rEp matrix, termed as Ep-rEp-CFRE, exhibits 17% higher FS and 13% higher ILSS than CFRE prepared using Ep matrix.

PDF (Download Full text)

Download Citation (XML)