Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2011
The effect of seawater on thermal behavior of conventional and nanophased carbon/epoxy composites was investigated in this study. Composites were fabricated with 1 wt.%, 2 wt.%, and 3 wt.% nanoclay by vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process and compared with neat samples with and without exposure to seawater. Thermal characterization was performed by the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Samples exposed to the seawater for 30- and 60-day periods revealed that samples with nanoclay retained better thermal properties compared to the neat samples. Storage modulus was reduced by 6.28%, 6.76%, 6.15%, and 7.05% for neat, 1 wt.%, 2 wt.%, and 3 wt.% nanoclay infused samples, respectively, after the samples were exposed to seawater for 60 days . From TGA results, it was observed that the thermal stability is not related to nanoclay content and conditoning. Optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies revealed no significant change in surface morphology in the 30-day conditioning samples.