Nanomechanical and anti-stabbing properties of Kolon fabric composites reinforced with hybrid nanoparticles

In this study carbon nanotubes (CNT) and silica nanoparticles (SiO2) were added to enhance the dynamic mechanical and anti-stabbing properties of the polyurethane/p-aramid multiaxial fabric (Kolon fabric) composites for ballistic protection. The SiO2 were modified (mSiO2) and CNT were oxidised (o-CNT) in order to fabricate o-CNT/mSiO2 hybrid nanoparticles. Various kinds of nanoreinforcement particles were added into poly (vinyl butyral) (PVB)/ethanol solution. The results revealed that the films PVB/o-MWCNT/mSiO2 and PVB/o-SWCNT/mSiO2 yielded 101% and 141% improvement in indentation hardness together with 89% and 117% improvement in reduced elastic modulus, respectively, compared to the neat PVB film. The experiments demonstrated that the Kolon/PVB/o-SWCNT/mSiO2 fabric sample yielded 35% improvement in absorbed energy and 50% improvement in the storage modulus compared to the Kolon/PVB sample.