Ultra-ductile and low friction epoxy matrix composites

We present the results of an effective reinforcement of epoxy resin matrix with fullerene carbon soot. The optimal carbon soot addition of 1 wt. % results in a toughness improvement of almost 20 times. The optimized soot-epoxy composites also show an increase in tensile elongation of more than 13 %, thus indicating a change of the failure mechanism in tension from brittle to ductile. Additionally, the coefficient of friction is reduced from its 0.91 value in plain epoxy resin to 0.15 in the optimized composite. In the optimized composite, the lateral forces during nanoscratching decrease as much as 80 % with enhancement of the elastic modulus and hardness by 43 % and 94%, respectively. The optimized epoxy resin fullerene soot composite can be a strong candidate for coating applications where toughness, low friction, ductility and light weight are important.Comment: 24 pages, 7 Figures, 1 Table in Polymer Testing (2015