Enhancing the electrical conductivity of carbon fibre thin-ply laminates with directly grown aligned carbon nanotubes

M. Russello, E. K. Diamanti, G. Catalanotti*, F. Ohlsson, S. C. Hawkins, B. G. Falzon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
236 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The transverse electrical conductivity of thin-ply carbon fibre laminates, enhanced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), was investigated experimentally. CNTs were directly synthesised on spread tow tapes of UTS50S carbon fibre through chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Unidirectional laminates were manufactured using both a thermosetting (epoxy) and a thermoplastic resin (polypropylene). A substantial increase in the electrical conductivity and a decrease in electrical anisotropy was observed for both the material systems investigated. Improvement in conductivity by a factor of 8 for the epoxy specimens, and 28 for the polypropylene specimens were reported.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)272-278
JournalComposite Structures
Volume206
Early online date23 Aug 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Dec 2018

Keywords

  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Chemical vapour deposition (CVD)
  • Electrical properties
  • Thin-ply laminates

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Civil and Structural Engineering

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