Investigating carbon-black-filled polymer composites’ brittleness

• Published in: Polymer bulletin (Berlin, Germany) Vol. 77; no. 9; pp. 4959 - 4969
• Main Authors: El Aboudi, I., Mdarhri, A., Brosseau, C., Montagne, A., Elhaouzi, F., Bouyahia, Z., Iost, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Brittleness; Bulk modulus; Carbon black; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Commonality; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Copolymers; Deformation; Fractions; Impact strength; Mechanical properties; Modulus of elasticity; Organic Chemistry; Original Paper; Physical Chemistry; Polymer matrix composites; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Soft and Granular Matter; Test methods; Viscoelasticity; Polymer; Carbon black; Composite; Brittleness; Indentation; Modeling
• ISSN: 0170-0839; 1436-2449
• DOI: 10.1007/s00289-019-03000-w

In this study, an attempt is made to quantify the brittleness in semicrystalline ethylene-co-butyl acrylate copolymer samples reinforced by carbon black (CB) nanoparticles. A series of samples with different CB volume fractions are investigated at ambient conditions. Two approaches are used to quantify the brittleness parameter. On the one hand, we consider brittleness of polymeric materials quantitatively defined by Brostow and Hagg Lobland. On the other hand, Lawn and Marshall’s approach based on the resistance of a material to both deformation and fracture is adopted. The ability of these two approaches to provide an estimation of the brittleness index is studied. The results also show the correlation of the brittleness index to the indentation properties, i.e., hardness and Young’s modulus. Additionally, we discuss the commonality between the bulk mechanical properties, i.e., hardening modulus and frictional forces, and brittleness.