Environmental aging effect on interlaminar properties of graphene nanoplatelets reinforced epoxy/carbon fiber composite laminates

Graphene nanoplatelets are two-dimensional carbon structure materials with single or multilayers graphite plane which possesses attractive characteristics. In this study, the environmental aging effect on interlaminar properties of graphene nanoplatelet containing different proportions (0.25, 0.50, 0.75wt%) reinforced epoxy/carbon fiber (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) composite laminates including interlaminar shear strength and fracture toughness were investigated. The interlaminar properties of graphene nanoplatelets/carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite laminates were improved over that of neat carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite laminates. Experimental results showed that the composite laminates containing graphene nanoplatelets possesses the appreciable improvement. The mechanisms responsible for the interlaminar enhancement were identified by studying the fracture surfaces using field emission scanning electron microscopy.