Enhancement of impact properties of CFRP by inserting the non-hydrophobized cellulose nanofiber dispersion layer using an aqueous solution of epoxy resin

Abstract

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are environmental-friendly nanofiller with high strength and lightweight. To improve the impact properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs), the application of CNF is expected. However, hydrophobic treatment was unavoidable due to its hydrophilicity. In this study, by adopting an aqueous solution of epoxy resin, the CFRP with CNF dispersion layer was fabricated. From the instrumented Charpy test, it was revealed that the waveform of impact force has two peaks, and the second peak was enlarged by the CNF dispersion layer. As a result, Charpy impact value of the CFRP was increased up to 6%.

Highlights

• A novel method to enhance the impact properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) by using cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was developed.

• By dispersing CNFs in an aqueous epoxy solution, hydrophobic treatment was eliminated.

• Inserting the CNF dispersion layer increased the Charpy impact value of CFRP up to 6%.

Keywords:

• CFRP
• cellulose nanofiber
• impact properties
• instrumented charpy test
• aqueous resin solution

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Kazuhiro Kume, Mizuno Corporation, Takayuki Hayashi, Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd., Japan and Daio Paper Co., Ltd., Japan.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Credit author statement

Kazuaki Katagiri: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review & editing, Toshihiko Okumura: Methodology, Data curation, Investigation, Sonomi Kawakita: Data curation, Investigation, Hirosuke Sonomura: Investigation, Shinya Honda: Methodology, Writing – review & editing, Katsuhiko Sasaki: Methodology, Writing – review & editing, Supervision.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20H02039.