JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #54 - January 2010 - 53

KNOW-HOW Nanochemicals LEO semi-solid resin film The LEO semi-solid resin film solution provides clean, reliable and easy-to-use nanochemicals for players in the composite sector. The solution enables the development of high-performance composites by fast, simple stacking of a resin film onto UD fibres or woven fabrics. PATRICE LUCAS CUSTOMER CARE DIRECTOR/ R&D MANAGEMENT NANOLEDGE INC. THIERRY ROTH CEO NANOLEDGE CHEMICALS based thermosetting matrix using NANO IN TM technology. In addition to this mechanical property improvement, other functionalities can be conferred to the resulting material by selecting the nanochemicals appropriately, including electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, fire resistance, and abrasion resistance. Nanochemicals: an industrial point of view hen properly integrated and dispersed, nanochemicals can improve several properties of the resulting nanocomposites, especially their toughness. The reinforcement mechanisms – crack deflection, crack pinning, crack bridging, void nucleation and pull-out – have been thoroughly studied and are now fairly well identified [1-3]. Depending on several parameters of the nanochemicals, these mechanisms can provide a varying degree of property improvement in the final composite. Figure 1 gives an overview of the property improvement that is achieved by integrating carbon nanotubes into an epoxy- W Nanochemical-filled semi-solid resin films were developed to provide the composite industry with a safe, reliable and ready-to-use solution. As shown above, nanochemicals have great potential. However, only nanochemicals or nanochemical masterbatches are available to composite part or end-product manufacturers. Several factors make these nanochemicals difficult to exploit successfully, e.g. difficulties linked to the integration process or the consequences of such integration on the formulation’s physico-chemical properties. Health, safety and environmental (HSE) concerns also need to be considered. A number of companies either provide raw nanochemicals or integrate such nanochemicals into various types of matrix, as does Nanoledge with epoxy resins. Insofar as these products are a component, they need to be formulated taking into consideration the requirements in composite part manufacturing. Only formulators can finetune the viscosity, gel-time, curing cycle, nanochemical concentration, etc., to deliver a suitable solution that will meet the requirements for the manufacturer’s end-product. In other words, nanochemicals and nanochemical masterbatches are designed for formulators, but not for composite parts manufacturers. The surge in marketing activities around such nanoproducts has given rise to questions and concerns about the potential HSE implications of nanotechnologies. The exposure risks at different stages – the handling of free nanochemicals, the Fig. 1: Comparison of various properties of epoxy-based reinforced composites with and without carbon nanotubes No54 January 2010 / jec composites magazine

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #54 - January 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #54 - January 2010