Mechanical and Recyclable Properties of Polyimine Enhanced by Biomimetic Modification of Graphene Oxide Sheets/Silicon Carbide Nano-Whiskers

Abstract

Inspired by the mineral bridge between hard phase layers of natural nacre, the biomimetic modified silicon carbide nano-whiskers (MSiCw)/graphene oxide sheets (MGO) reinforced polyimine (PI) composites (MSiCw-MGO-PI) were successfully prepared by heat-pressing at room temperature, which confirmed by FTIR, XPS, and XRD tests. According to the results of mechanical tests, the composites with filling weights of MSiCw and MGO, which were found to be 1% and 0.3%, presented tensile strength of 94.27 MPa, which was 32% higher than the matrix. With the additional weights amount of 1%MSiCw and 0.2%MGO, the impact strength of the composites reached 17.46 KJ/m2, which was increased by 81% compared with the matrix. In addition, the reinforcing mechanisms, such as the bridging principle and mechanism of whiskers pulling out, were investigated by analyzing the fracture surface of MSiCw-MGO-PI composites. The results showed that MSiCw and MGO can synergistically improve the mechanical properties of the composites. In addition, the recyclability of the composites valued by the mechanical properties of the composites from regrinding and heat pressing showed that three generations of MSiCw-MGO-PI composites can still maintain high mechanical properties on account of the better dispersion of the reinforcing phases in the matrix from regrinding.