Enhancement of mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy matrix laminated composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A manufacturing process hand layup technique was used to produce carbon fiber/epoxy laminates with the epoxy matrix with a variation of 0.5 wt % to 2 wt% carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Microstructural observations of the composites from a scanning electron microscope show a better interaction between CNTs and epoxy. In this study, the mechanical properties of the carbon fiber-epoxy system and carbon fiber-CNT/epoxy system were characterized through the tensile and flexural tests. From the studies, it was found that the tensile and flexural strength of carbon fiber/epoxy laminate with CNTs are higher than those without CNTs.