| Summary: | This thesis primarily documents the development and application of a novel
technique, which involves the usage of a silicon micro-mechanical device that operates in
conjunction with a quantitative nanoindenter within an electron microscope, for the
mechanical characterization of nanomaterials and interfaces in composites. The technique
was used to conducted tensile tests on individual pristine, nitrogen doped and sidewall
fluorinated multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), which were found to exhibit varied
load-bearing abilities and unique fracture modes. The technique was also used to perform
single fiber pullout experiments to study the MWNT/polymer (epoxy) interface.
Interfacial failure was found to occur in a brittle fashion, in a manner consistent with the
predictions of continuum fracture mechanics models. Although an improvement in the
interfacial adhesion was observed upon sidewall fluorination of the MWNT
reinforcements, the results of the study essentially highlighted the weak nature of the
forces that bind MWNTs to an epoxy matrix.
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