Multiscale Carbon Nanotube−Carbon Fiber Reinforcement for\nAdvanced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

We report an approach to the development of advanced structural composites based on engineered multiscale carbon\nnanotube−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\ninfiltrated with epoxy resin using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) to fabricate multiscale hybrid\ncomposites in which the nanotubes were completely integrated into the fiber bundles and reinforced the matrix-rich\nregions. The carbon nanotube/carbon fabric/epoxy composites showed ∼30% enhancement of the interlaminar shear\nstrength as compared to that of carbon fiber/epoxy composites without carbon nanotubes and demonstrate significantly\nimproved out-of-plane electrical conductivity.