Physical and mechanical properties of the lignin-based carbon nanofiber-reinforced epoxy composite

The lignin-based carbon nanofiber reinforced epoxy composite has been prepared by immersing carbon nanofiber mat in epoxy resin solution in order to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties. The thermal and mechanical properties of the carbon nanofiber reinforced epoxy composite were analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and tensile tester. It was found that the thermal properties of the carbon nanofiber reinforced epoxy composite improved, with its glass-transition temperature (Tg) increased from 90.7°C (Tg of epoxy resin itself) to 106.9°C. The tensile strengths of carbon nanofiber mats made from both lignin-g-PAN copolymer and PAN were 7.2 MPa and 9.4 MPa, respectively. The resulting tensile strength of lignin-based carbon nanofiber reinforced epoxy composite became 43.0 MPa, the six times higher than that of lignin-based carbon nanofiber mats. The carbon nanofibers were pulled out after the tensile test of the carbon nanofiber reinforced epoxy composite due to high tensile strength (478.8 MPa) of an individual carbon nanofiber itself as well as low interfacial adhesion between fibers and matrices, confirmed by the SEM analysis.