Guerrero Fernández, Margie R

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    Experimental benchmarks for mechanical properties of highly-loaded carbon nanotube- reinforced polyether ether ketone
    (2018) Guerrero Fernández, Margie R; Marín Martín, Carlos; College of Engineering; Cancelos, Silvina; Martínez Iñesta, Maria; Pérez, Nestor; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Tarafa, Pedro
    Composites of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polymers have been proposed for several engineering applications, this due to the elevated mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the nanotubes. However, effective manufacture of these compounds has not yet been achieved because the nanotubes tend to agglomerate, do not disperse homogeneously in the polymer matrix and low percentage of nanotubes can be used in the mixture. For polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) and CNTs composites, evidences show that PEEK seems to coat along nanotubes under certain heat treatments. Based on this premise, this work proposes a new methodology for the manufacture centimeter scale PEEK/CNT composites with high load of CNTs through thermal treatment under controlled pressure. Mechanical properties were determined from strain-stress curves and structural homogeneity and porosity was determined nanoscopically using high-resolution electron microscopes. A correlation between the mechanical properties and the degree of porosity of the fabricated material was obtained. Samples with record structural reinforcement of 115% in the Young modulus of PEEK/CNTs composites were reproducibly fabricated and characterized.