We have developed new routes of production of hybrid aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) films and Carbon fibre based epoxy composites which can potentially be used in aerospace structures for multifunctional applications. A gas phase chemical reactor was used for continuous production of carbon nanotubes films using a one-step chemical vapour deposition (CVD) based method. The nanotube films based were manufactured using aerospace grade epoxy resin as a matrix and using vacuum bagging and autoclave curing process which is a conventional composites manufacturing technique. The use of continuous carbon nanotube and high-performance epoxy resin using vacuum bagging process allowed to produce nanotube epoxy film composites with a high weight fraction of nanotubes in composites (40wt%). The epoxy and carbon nanotube films showed very good mechanical properties, improvement in the tensile modulus behaviour with unique pseudo-ductile fracture behaviour. The epoxy nanotube film composites also showed excellent electrical properties which conductivity increase well above the requirement of EMI shielding applications. We also manufactured the hybrid composites of nanotube films in combination with carbon fibres using conventional composites manufacturing using vacuum bagging and autoclave curing. The resulting hybrid carbon nanotube films and carbon fibre composites showed excellent surface conductivity which was far superior to that of baseline carbon fibre composites. These hybrid carbon nanotube film and carbon fibre based composites can be used for wide range of aerospace application in EMI shielding, improved electrostatic dissipation, electric energy storage, improved fracture toughness and electrical actuation of composites. Simultaneously, the process is much simpler, inexpensive and easy to upscale for the aerospace composites manufacturing.

Directly spun, aligned carbon nanotubes and carbon fibre epoxy-based hybrid composites for the potential applications in aerospace engineering

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.