Enhanced flexural properties of aramid fiber/epoxy composites by graphene oxide

The reinforcing effect of graphene oxide (GO) in enhancing the flexural strength and flexural modulus of aramid fiber (AF)/epoxy composites were investigated with GO-AFs at a weight fraction of 0.1-0.7%. The flexural strength and flexural modulus of the composite reached 87.16 MPa and 1054.7 MPa, respectively, which were about 21.19% and 40.86% higher than those of the pure epoxy resin, respectively. In addition, the flexural properties and interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of composite reinforced by GO-AFs were much higher than the composites reinforced by AFs due to GO improved the interfacial bonding between the reinforcement material and matrix.