Interfacial Behavior of Fiber/Matrix Based on of Middle Layer of Organic-Inorganic Nano Hybrid
Yaqin FU, Qing-Qing NI, Ken KURASHIKI and Masaharu IWAMOTO
Abstract:It was expected that the performance of a polymer based composite and its interfacial behavior of fiber/matrix could be improved by using organic substance and/or organic-inorganic hybrid. In this paper, the new approach of using organic-inorganic nano-hybrid as a middle layer to improve the interfacial performance of composites was proposed. Several typical reinforcements such as continuous glass fiber, chopped strand glass fiber and glass fabric were treated by epoxy /silica nano-hybrid and a middle layer between reinforcement of glass fibers and the matrix of epoxy resin was introduced. The composites with this nano-hybrid middle layer for reinforcements were fabricated. Then the interfacial behavior with and/or without the hybrid middle layer was investigated and compared by the fragmentation test with simultaneous AE measurements, peeling tests and SEM observation. It was found that the interfacial behavior between glass fiber and epoxy resin could be improved greatly by introducing the middle layer of epoxy /silica nano-hybrid. It was confident that the concept of using organic-inorganic hybrid as a middle layer between reinforcements and matrix would be one of effective approaches for improvement of the interfacial behavior in composites. Key Words:Organic-inorganic hybrid, SFC, Interfacial behavior, Glass fiber, Middle layer