TY - JOUR A1 - Nie, Yaru A1 - Hübert, Thomas T1 - Effect of carbon nanofiber (CNF) silanization on the properties of CNF/epoxy nanocomposites JF - Polymer International N2 - Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were functionalized by a multistage process including oxidation, reduction and silanization. The chemical modifications were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The silanized CNFs were then added into an epoxy resin (EPON 828) to study the effect of the surface modification of CNFs on the properties of nanocomposites. For comparison, nanocomposites containing original unmodified CNFs were also investigated. Scanning electron microscopy indicates better dispersion of modified fibers in the epoxy polymer matrix; the mechanical and thermal properties of composites are also improved; the electrical conductivity of the composites is reduced. KW - Carbon nanofibers KW - Epoxy composites KW - Silanization KW - Electrical conductivity KW - Thermal conductivity KW - Mechanical properties PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.3124 SN - 0959-8103 SN - 1097-0126 SN - 0007-1641 VL - 60 IS - 11 SP - 1574 EP - 1580 PB - Wiley InterScience CY - Chichester, West Sussex AN - OPUS4-25865 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nie, Yaru A1 - Hübert, Thomas T1 - Surface modification of carbon nanofibers by glycidoxysilane for altering the conductive and mechanical properties of epoxy composites JF - Composites / A N2 - Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were functionalized with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and dispersed into epoxy resin. The chemical modification of CNFs was confirmed by FTIR, SEM, EDX and TGA measurements. After silanization, FTIR showed the existance of epoxy ring; EDX detected Si element; while TGA indicated 1.1 wt.% Si on CNFs. Mechanical properties were analyzed by DMA. Silanized CNFs/epoxy composites demonstrated improved dispersion of CNFs in the matrix, and an enhancement of storage modulus for about 20% compared to the neat matrix, which indicated that the modification of CNFs improved the adhesion between fillers and matrices. DC electrical conductivity of CNFs was reduced about 7-fold compared to the original CNFs due to the silane coating. Accordingly, the composites containing silanized CNFs also had lower electrical conductivity than those containing original CNFs. In spite of decreased electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity of silanized CNFs/epoxy composites was increased due to the surface modification of CNFs. KW - A. Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs) KW - B. Mechanical properties KW - B. Electrical properties KW - B. Thermal properties PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2012.03.025 SN - 1359-835X VL - 43 IS - 8 SP - 1357 EP - 1364 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-26073 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -