Microhardness of poly(methyl methacrylate)-multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites: Effect of ultraviolet irradiation

• Published in: Materials chemistry and physics Vol. 216; pp. 223 - 229
• Main Authors: Chang, Man-Fang, Yang, Fuqian, Lee, Sanboh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.09.2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Mechanical properties; Microhardness; Multi wall carbon nanotubes; Multiwalled carbon nanotubes; Poly(methyl methacrylate); Polymer matrix composites; Polymethyl methacrylate; Radiation dosage; Reliability aspects; Reliability engineering; Structural reliability; Temperature dependence; Ultraviolet light; Ultraviolet radiation; Weight; Multiwalled carbon nanotubes; Poly(methyl methacrylate); Ultraviolet light; Microhardness
• ISSN: 0254-0584; 1879-3312
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2018.06.010

Understanding the mechanical behavior of polymer matrix composites under the service conditions is of practical importance to improve structural durability and reliability. In this work, we study the microhardness of poly(methyl methacrylate)-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PMMA-MWCNTs) composite as a function of the fraction of MWCNTs and the irradiation of ultraviolet (UV) light in a temperature range of 50–80 °C. Increasing temperature, heating time, and the weight fraction of MWCNTs causes the increase of the microhardness of the PMMA-MWCNT composite, while increasing the UV-irradiation dose causes the decrease of the microhardness of the PMMA-MWCNT composite. A first-order kinetic process is proposed to analyze the variation of the microhardness of the PMMA-MWCNT composite with time. The activation energy for the first-order kinetic process increases with increasing the weight fraction of MWCNTs, and decreases with increasing the UV-irradiation dose. The temperature dependence of the microhardness of the PMMA-MWCNT composite at equilibrium state follows the van't Hoff relation. Temporal evolution of the hardness of UV-irradiated PMMA-MWCNT composite with different irradiation doses. [Display omitted] •Hardness of the PMMA composite is analyzed by first-order kinetic process.•Hardness of the PMMA composite increases with heating temperature and time.•Hardness of the PMMA composite increases with weight fraction of MWCNTs.•Hardness of the PMMA composite decreases with increasing UV dose.•Hardness of the PMMA composite at equilibrium follows the van't Hoff relation.