High performance multiscale glass fibre epoxy composites integrated with cellulose nanocrystals for advanced structural applications

Recently, considerable effort has been devoted to develop cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)/epoxy (EP) composites with improved properties. However, work on CNC-enhanced continuous fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites has received little attention. In this study, a CNC/epoxy mixture was infused through plain-woven glass fabric (GF) reinforcement to develop hierarchical CNC/GFRP composites. The results show that CNC/GFRP composites exhibit significantly enhanced mechanical properties compared to the GFRP control composite. The addition of 2 wt% CNC to GFRP yielded increases of 56% in storage modulus, 50% in flexural modulus, 55% in flexural strength, 14% in tensile modulus and 24% in tensile strength. Morphological studies (SEM) confirm the strong anchoring of CNCs with GF and the EP interphase thin layer around the GF. These results show that CNCs can be effective for strengthening the interface in fibre-reinforced composites for structural applications.