Abstract
Herein, macro-scale fibre was modified with nano-scale filler to produce multiscale composites. Glass fibres were spray-coated with aqueous suspensions of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) containing different dispersing agents such as gum Arabic (GA), Chinese black ink (INK) and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). The coated fabrics were stacked together with epoxy binder to produce composite laminates through hand lay-up and vacuum bagging. Stability analysis reveals good dispersion and high stability of MWCNT in GA and INK solutions as evident through high magnitude of zeta potential and absorbance peaks, compared to NFC. Particularly, SEM and TEM images revealed good distribution of MWCNTs in GA solution which accounts for significant enhancement in flexural and interlaminar properties of 4-ply and 5-ply GF composites. Similarly, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that 4GF/MWCNT/GA exhibits higher storage modulus and lower tan delta than the baseline, which further confirms the effectiveness of MWCNT/GA coating in the multiscale composites.