The Effect of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Oxide on the Tensile Properties of Unsaturated Polyester Resin in Composite Materials

Carbon fillers like multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT or CNT) and graphene oxide (GO) etc. have superlative mechanical and physical properties. They are widely applied in composite materials with high potential to increase mechanical properties of matrix. The dispersion of nano fillers is the key to evaluate bonding properties of Unsaturated Polyester Resin (UPR). Tensile specimens were fabricated by cast molding with the difference types of nano carbon fillers dispersed by stirring and sonication technique. 0.1 wt.% of MWCNT or GO separately and both of them were mixed with UPR. As the result, Young’s modulus increased significantly due to the appearance of nano fillers in all cases. On the other hand, the mixture of CNT and UPR showed the highest tensile strength and fracture strain. However, the mixture of GO with UPR showed no good effect on ultimate strength and GO combined with CNT also showed the same behavior. Moreover, higher of nano filler ratio, smaller fracture strain of mixture was shown. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used as the evidence to evaluate the strength effect of nano particles at the fracture surface of specimens based on their dispersion in UPR.