Synergistic Effects of Processing and Nanofiber Reinforcement on the mechanical and Ferroelectric Performance of Geopolymer Matrix Composites

Authors

Akm S. Rahman, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow
Muhammad E. Hossain, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow
Donald W. Radford, Colorado State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-19-2017

Abstract

tThis study involved the evaluation of mechanical and ferroelectric properties of a new classof nanofiller infused inorganic polymer (geopolymer, GP). To evaluate the mechanical per-formance, compressive strength and fracture resistance of neat and nanofillers infused GPwere studied at various treatment temperatures. It was found that, addition of 5 vol% alu-mina nanofiber (ANF), increased compressive strength and modulus by over 30% and 60%,respectively, while it increased fracture toughness (KIC) by over 60% compared to the baselinespecimens. Simultaneously, ferroelectric properties were investigated at various treatmenttemperatures (250◦C, 650◦C and 870◦C). Remarkably, higher ferroelectric hysteresis wasobserved with the GP treated at 870◦C and remnant polarization increased with the addi-tion of alumina nanofiber. Scanning Electron Microscopy confirmed that neat materials arecomposed of particles embedded into the poly-condensed matrix, where particle natureexisted until the treatment temperature reached above 870◦C. X-ray diffraction analysissuggests that, baseline geopolymer started becoming crystalline while the particle naturegradually disappeared with heating at or beyond 870◦C. The bonding between the polymerand alumina nanofiber tends to be stronger with increasing treatment temperature. Theincrease in KICwith the addition of 2 vol% and 5 vol% alumina nanofibers (ANF) is due tohomogeneous dispersion of high interfacial strength nanofillers, which essentially createstrong crack bridging and crack deflection effect. The increase in ferroelectric hysteresisis potentially due to the formation of hierarchical order and domain reorientation of thematerials.

Comments

This article was originally published in the Journal of Materials Research & Technology, available at DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2017.04.005.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives (CC BY NC ND) License.