Nanoscale Research Group Talk – Associate Professor Sarah Zhang

Event Name
Nanoscale Research Group Talk – Associate Professor Sarah Zhang
Date
13 July 2020
Time
02:00 pm - 03:00 pm
Location
Online

Address (Room): https://uws.zoom.us/j/92296578795?pwd=NjZSWXYxUG5hYk9Gb0VsQWoxQzhxQT09

Description

Development of High Performance Nanocomposite Adhesive Materials - A/Prof. Sarah Zhang

Details for this talk are as follows:

Everyone is welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing you!

Abstract:

Adhesive bonding technology has become popular in recent years due to its capability of bonding various types of materials such as metals, ceramics, polymers and composites. Epoxy adhesives are the most extensively used structural adhesives for bonding different components in aerospace and automotive industries due to their excellent adhesion and corrosion resistance. However, the high crosslinking density makes the epoxy resin a brittle material, having a fracture energy about two orders of magnitude lower than engineering thermoplastics and three orders of magnitude lower than metals, diminishing the strength of epoxy adhesive joints and, therefore limits their applicability.

This research developed a high shear strength epoxy-based nanocomposite adhesive materials and investigated the bonded joint performance. CNTs were functionalized using an ultrasonicated-ozonolysis process to enhance the uniform and stable dispersion of CNT, and 3-roll mill was employed to achieve the uniform distribution of CNT in the epoxy matrix. Two different triblock copolymers named as SBM and MAM were used as toughening agents to improve the shear strength of the nanocomposite adhesive material. Single lap shear tests were performed on the aluminum adhesively bonded joints using pure and modified epoxy adhesives to determine the shear strength of the adhesive.

The effect of different weight fractions of untreated CNTs, functionalized CNTs, and the hybrid effect of CNTs and triblock copolymer addition on the shear strength of the adhesive joints was studied. It was found that the use of functionalization and 3-roll mill methods are effective to achieve stable and even dispersion of the CNTs and the shear strength was improved by 26% (23.6 MPa) compared to that of pure epoxy. The hybrid effect of functionalized CNTs and SBM showed the maximum shear strength of 44.7 MPa, with an increase of 137% compared to that the of the pure epoxy demonstrating the effectiveness of the triblock copolymer addition in improving the shear strength

Web page: https://uws.zoom.us/j/92296578795?pwd=NjZSWXYxUG5hYk9Gb0VsQWoxQzhxQT09

Contact
Name: Bill Price

b.price@westernsydney.edu.au

Phone: 0404 830 398

School / Department: SoSC / Nanoscale