Ajayan, Pulickel MRahman, Muhammad M2023-09-012023-09-012023-082023-08-08August 202Khater, Ali Zein. "Fabrication and Characterization of Advanced Epoxy-based Composites and Nanocomposites." (2023) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115252.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115252We live in the age of development. The age of new technology. Of automated manufacturing and processing. Transportation is breaking new limits, passing the boundaries of the sky towards the heavens. Soon, travel across the world in minutes will become a reality with hypersonic travel. Automated and self-driving vehicles might one day be a relied means of transportation. With these advancements in technology, a new era of materials and manufacturing are necessary. Advanced materials must be developed that can reduce weight, reduce production and manufacturing time, respond intelligently or with design and intent, and reduce waste to thrust aviation, automotives, energy, technologies, and automation of technologies into this age of automation dubbed the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0). Herein, this thesis discusses the development and testing of epoxy composites showing how additive manufacturing (AM) can be used to better process carbon nanotubes (CNTs), how the shape memory properties of epoxy can be tuned using polyrotaxane (PR), and impact tolerance of a PR epoxy. From these efforts, it has been shown that AM facilitates the processing of CNTs thus improving the processing dynamics of CNTs in epoxy in comparison to the mold cast counterpart via void reduction and CNT dispersion, wetting, and partial alignment. Likewise, this work shows that the addition of PR to a shape memory epoxy improves the strain to failure and improves shape recovery time with increased PR loading. Lastly, the effects of PR on epoxy are investigated to show how the addition of PR affects the impact resistance under repeated low velocity impacts of incrementally increasing energies. These collective works are united by the demand for advanced materials and manufacturing developments in IR4.0 where polymers provide lightweight and mechanically robust alternatives to heavy and dense metal components. Thus, this thesis will add to the body of literature and understanding necessary to continue growing the field of materials engineering and science.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Carbon NanotubesCNTEpoxyCompositePolyrotaxaneShape Memory PolymerShape Memory EpoxyImpactThesis2023-09-01