Study on the binder for CNT Sheet Lamination for Hybrid type Soft Armor

Abstract

The CNT sheet known as the lightest bullet-proof material was laminated with the conventional textile materials to produce a hybrid-type bullet-proof panel, and thereby, it was attempted to weight-lighten the bullet-proof panel 20% or more, compared with the conventional UHMWPE or Aramid bullet-proof panel, while maintaining the bullet-proof performance of the NIJ Standard Level IIIA. In order to use the CNT sheet for a bullet-proof material, it was absolutely necessary to operate a process of laminating the CNT sheets.

This study experimented the effects of the CNT sheet laminating binder on the composite. For the binder, the PAN or PAN with benzoyl peroxide(BPO) and PKHH were used. It could be confirmed that the weight gained according to the binder treatment, and that in case of using the BPO through FT-IR, the cross-linking reaction could occur at a temperature lower than 250℃. Moreover, it could also be confirmed by checking the CNT sheet surface through SEM whether the binder was adhere on the CNT fiber. The stress response for the strain deformation of the laminates were studied by UTM. The higher the concentration of the binder was, the Young’s modulus increased more, while the domain of the polymer increased. In addition, when the stiffness of each specimen was checked by calculating Young's modulus, it could be expected that the impact-absorption strength would be high at PAN 5wt% with the BPO added. Finally, the impact-absorption strength was evaluated with a low-speed impact device. As a result, it was found that the CNT sheet laminate(PAN-BPO) with the BPO added could absorb the impact very highly. But the CNT sheet laminate with PKHH resin was found to have a impact-absorbing strength similar to that of the CNT sheet laminate(PAN) with no BPO added. So, when such conditions as weights are taken into consideration CNT sheet laminate using the PAN or it could be concluded that the CNT sheet laminate using the PAN with BPO would have a better impact-absorption strength.