Multiscale Carbon Nanotube−Carbon Fiber Reinforcement for Advanced Epoxy Composites

作者：Elena Bekyarova, Erik T. Thostenson, Aiping Yu, Hyoung‐il Kim, Jun Gao, Jihong Tang, H. Thomas Hahn, Tsu−Wei Chou, M.E. Itkis, Robert C. Haddon · 发表于：Langmuir · 年份：2007 · DOI：10.1021/la062743p · 被引用次数：886 · 研究领域：Carbon Nanotubes in Composites、Graphene research and applications、Fiber-reinforced polymer composites

We report an approach to the development of advanced structural composites based on engineered multiscale carbon nanotube-carbon fiber reinforcement. Electrophoresis was utilized for the selective deposition of multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on woven carbon fabric. The CNT-coated carbon fabric panels were subsequently infiltrated with epoxy resin using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) to fabricate multiscale hybrid composites in which the nanotubes were completely integrated into the fiber bundles and reinforced the matrix-rich regions. The carbon nanotube/carbon fabric/epoxy composites showed approximately 30% enhancement of the interlaminar shear strength as compared to that of carbon fiber/epoxy composites without carbon nanotubes and demonstrate significantly improved out-of-plane electrical conductivity.