Tensile Properties of Flax Fibre Bundles with Graphene Oxide Coating

In the current datasheet, authors report the effect of graphene oxide treatment on tensile behaviour of single flax fibre bundles. As graphene oxide is hydrophilic with many hydroxyl functional groups, it is expected to bond with technical fibres and increase the stress transfer in a flax yarn.

 Graphene oxide (GO) aqueous dispersion with 1.2 wt % is prepared based on the modified Hummer’s method. GO is physically adsorbed on fibres by immersion of flax yarns into the aqueous dispersion for 24 hr. Fibres are dried at 80 C for 2 hr followed by 48 hr at 60 C. To differentiate between the effect of GO treatment and the potential loss in the tensile strength and tensile stiffness of fibres, authors report the data in 4 subclasses:

As received flax yarns (dried at 60 C for 48 hr): labelled ‘as received’

Kept in deionised water for 30 min: tagged ’30 min’

Placed in deionised water for 24 hr: marked ’24 hr’

Flax fibres immersed in 1.2 wt % GO aqueous dispersion for 24 hr: labelled ‘GO’

Tensile test of single natural fibres is a challenging measurement. This is mainly due to the hierarchical and nonhomogenous structure of single fibres and difficulty in their extraction. The test methods are not standard, and the final data is very scattered. As an alternative method, we report the tensile properties of flax fibre bundles based on the impregnated fibre bundle test (IFBT) [1].

Materials and brief description of the methodology can be found in the datasheet under ‘method’ tab. Flax fibre bundles were extracted from AmpliTex 5009 flax fabrics kindly provided by Bcomp. The matrix was Epikote 828 LVEL epoxy resin with Dytek DCH-99 hardener.

Impregnated fibre bundle tests were performed with Instron 5567 and 30 kN loadcell, with 120 mm gauge length and 4% min -1 strain rate. The strain was measured by a 50 mm clip-on extensometer. The abrasive paper was placed without glue in between the testing clamps and the samples.  All samples were stored one week before test in a controlled environment of RH 50 % and 25 C.

In the current datasheet, authors report the effect of graphene oxide treatment on tensile behaviour of single flax fibre bundles. As graphene oxide is hydrophilic with many hydroxyl functional groups, it is expected to bond with technical fibres and increase the stress transfer in a flax yarn.

 Graphene oxide (GO) aqueous dispersion with 1.2 wt % is prepared based on the modified Hummer’s method. GO is physically adsorbed on fibres by immersion of flax yarns into the aqueous dispersion for 24 hr. Fibres are dried at 80 C for 2 hr followed by 48 hr at 60 C. To differentiate between the effect of GO treatment and the potential loss in the tensile strength and tensile stiffness of fibres, authors report the data in 4 subclasses:

As received flax yarns (dried at 60 C for 48 hr): labelled ‘as received’

Kept in deionised water for 30 min: tagged ’30 min’

Placed in deionised water for 24 hr: marked ’24 hr’

Flax fibres immersed in 1.2 wt % GO aqueous dispersion for 24 hr: labelled ‘GO’

Tensile test of single natural fibres is a challenging measurement. This is mainly due to the hierarchical and nonhomogenous structure of single fibres and difficulty in their extraction. The test methods are not standard, and the final data is very scattered. As an alternative method, we report the tensile properties of flax fibre bundles based on the impregnated fibre bundle test (IFBT) [1].

Materials and brief description of the methodology can be found in the datasheet under ‘method’ tab. Flax fibre bundles were extracted from AmpliTex 5009 flax fabrics kindly provided by Bcomp. The matrix was Epikote 828 LVEL epoxy resin with Dytek DCH-99 hardener.

Impregnated fibre bundle tests were performed with Instron 5567 and 30 kN loadcell, with 120 mm gauge length and 4% min -1 strain rate. The strain was measured by a 50 mm clip-on extensometer. The abrasive paper was placed without glue in between the testing clamps and the samples.  All samples were stored one week before test in a controlled environment of RH 50 % and 25 C.