Study of the Diffusion Behavior of Seawater Absorption in Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Halloysite Nanotubes Hybrid Nanofillers Modified Epoxy-Based Glass/Carbon Fiber Composites

In the maritime industry, cost-effective and lightweight Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites offer excellent mechanical properties, design flexibility, and corrosion resistance. However, their reliability in harsh seawater conditions is a concern. Researchers address this by exploring three approaches: coating fiber surfaces, hybridizing fibers and matrices with or without nanofillers, and interply rearrangement. This study focuses on evaluating the synergistic effects of interply rearrangement of glass/carbon fibers and hybrid nanofillers, specifically Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and Halloysite nanotubes (HNT). The aim is to enhance impact properties by minimizing moisture absorption. Hybrid nanocomposites with equal-weight proportions of two nanofillers: 0 wt.%, 1 wt.%, and 2 wt.% were exposed to seawater for 90 days. Experimental data was subjected to modelling through the application of Predictive Fick’s Law. The study found that the hybrid composite containing 2 wt.% hybrid nanofillers exhibited a 22.10% increase in impact performance compared to non-modified counterparts. After 90 days of seawater aging, the material exhibited enhanced resistance to moisture absorption (15.74%) and minimal reduction in impact strength (8.52%) compared to its dry strength, with lower diffusion coefficients.

Fabrication of superaligned carbon nanotubes reinforced copper matrix laminar composite by electrodeposition

A new kind of laminar metal matrix nanocomposite（MMC） was fabricated by an electrodeposition process with copper and superaligned carbon nanotubes film（SACNT film）.The SACNT film was put on a titanium plate and then a layer of copper was electrodeposited on it.By repeating the above process,the laminar Cu/SACNT composite which contains dozens or hundreds of layers of copper and SACNT films was obtained.The thickness of a single copper layer was controlled by adjusting the process parameter easily and the thinnest layer is less than 2 μm.The microscopic observation shows that the directional alignment structure of SACNT is retained in the composite perfectly.The mechanical and electrical properties testing results show that the tensile and yield strengths of composites are improved obviously compared with those of pure copper,and the high conductivity is retained.This technology is a potential method to make applicable MMC which characterizes high volume fraction and directional alignment of carbon nanotubes.

Vapor-grown carbon fibers enhanced sulfur-multi walled carbon nanotubes composite cathode for lithium/sulfur batteries

Vapor-grown carbon fibers （VGCFs） were introduced as conductive additives for sulfur-multiwalled carbon nanotubes （S-MWCNTs） composite cathode of lithium-sulfur batteries. The performance of S-MWCNTs composite cathodes with carbon black and VGCFs as sole conductive additives was investigated using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, galvanostatic charge-discharge tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS）. The results show that the S-MWCNTs composite cathode with VGCFs displays a network-like morphology and exhibits higher activity and better cycle durability compared with the composite cathode with carbon black, delivering an initial discharge capacity of 1254 mA＆#183;h/g and a capacity of 716 mA＆#183;h/g after 40 cycles at 335 mA/g. The interconnected VGCFs can provide a stable conductive network, suppress the aggregation of cathode materials and residual lithium sulfide and maintain the porosity of cathode, and therefore the electrochemical performance of S-MWCNTs composite cathode is enhanced.

Fabrication and thermal conductivity of copper matrix composites reinforced by tungsten-coated carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes （CNTs） were coated by tungsten using metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Magnetic stirring was employed to disperse the W-coated CNTs （W-CNTs） in a Cu matrix, and then, the mixed powders were consolidated by spark plasma sintering. The W-CNTs obtained a uniform dispersion within the Cu matrix when the W-CNT content was less than 5.0vo1%, but high content of W-CNTs （10vol%） resulted in the presence of clusters. The W-CNT/Cu composites containing low content of W-CNTs （〈5.0vol%） exhibited a higher thermal conductivity than the sintered pure Cu, while the CNT/Cu composites exhibited no increase in thermal conductivity after the incorporation of uncoated CNTs. The W-CNT content was found to play a crucial role in determining the thermal conductivity of the W-CNT/Cu composites. The thermal conductivity of the W-CNT/Cu composites increased first and then decreased with the W-CNT content increasing. When the W-CNT content was 2.5vo1%, the W-CNT/Cu composite obtained the maximum value of thermal conductivity. The thermal resistance of the （W-CNT）-Cu interface was predicted in terms of Maxwell-Gamett effective medium approximation, and its calculated value was about 3.0× 10-9 m2.K.W-l.

Effects of ply-orientation on microstructure and properties of super-aligned carbon nanotube reinforced copper laminar composites

The super-aligned carbon nanotube(SACNT)films reinforced copper(Cu)laminar composites with different orientationsof CNT ply were fabricated by electrodeposition.The results show that the tensile strength and yield strength of cross-ply compositewith5.0%(volume fraction)of SACNT reach maximum of336.3MPa and246.0MPa respectively,increased by74.0%and124.5%compared with pure Cu prepared with the same method.Moreover,the electrical conductivities of all the prepared composites areover75%IACS.The result of TEM analysis shows that the size of Cu grain and the thickness of twin lamellae can be reduced byadding SACNT,and the refining effect in cross-ply composites is more significant than that in unidirectional ply composites.Theenhanced strength of the Cu/SACNT composites comes from not only the reinforcing effect of SACNT films but also the additionalstrengthening of the Cu grain refinement caused by CNT orientation.

High-cycle Fatigue Life Extension of Glass Fiber/Polymer Composites with Carbon Nanotubes

The present work shows that the addition of small volume fractions of multi-walled carbon nanotubes （CNTs） to the matrix results in a significant increase in the high-cycle fatigue life. It is proposed that carbon nanotubes tend to inhibit the formation of large cracks by nucleating nano-scale damage zones. In addition, the contribution to energy absorption from the fracture of nanotubes bridging across nano-scale cracks and from nanotube pull-out from the matrix are mechanisms that can improve the fatigue life. An energy-based model was proposed to estimate the additional strain energy absorbed in fatigue. The distributed nanotubes in the matrix appear to both distribute damage as well as inhibit damage propagation resulting in an overall improvement in the fatigue strength of glass fiber composites.

Properties and Structure of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes/Cellulose Composites Fibers Using Ionic Liquid as Solvent

To take advantage of cellulose material and prepare a kind of high performance fiber,multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWNTs) were used as fillers to produce MWNTs/cellulose composite fibers using ionic liquid as solvent.The thermal properties,mechanical properties,and structure of the composite fibers were investigated.The wide angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD) measurements show that MWNTs/cellulose composite fibers have cellulose Ⅱ crystal structure.The results obtained from thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA) indicate that the addition of low nanotubes amounts leads to an increase in the degrade temperature.The tensile mechanical properties show that initial modulus and tensile strength considerably increase in the presence of nanotubes with a maximum for 66.7% and 22.7%.

Preparation and properties of Cu matrix composite reinforced by carbon nanotubes

Cu matrix composites reinforced by carbon nanotubes(CNTs) were prepared. The effect of carbon nanotubes on mechanical and tribological properties of the Cu matrix composites were investigated. The chemical method for coating CNTs was reported. The morphology of the fracture surfaces and worn surface were examined by SEM. The results show that Cu/coated-CNTs composites have higher hardness, much better wear resistance and (anti-)(friction) properties than those of the reference Cu alloy (Cu-10Sn) and Cu/uncoated-CNTs composite sintered under the same conditions. The optimal mechanical properties of the composites occurred at 2.25%(mass fraction) of CNTs. The excellent wear resistance and anti-friction properties are attributed to the fiber strengthening effect of CNTs and the effect of the spherical wear debris containing carbon nanotubes on the tribo-surface.

Thermo-physical Properties of Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Copper Matrix Composites

Continuous carbon fiber reinforced copper matrix composites with 70%(volume fraction) of carbon fibers prepared by squeeze casting technique have been used for investigation of the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) and thermal conductivity.Thermo-physical properties have been measured in both,longitudinal and transversal directions to the fiber orientation.The results showed that Cf/Cu composites may be a suitable candidate for heat sinks because of its good thermo-physical properties e.g.the low CTE(4.18×10-6/K) in longitudinal orientation and(14.98×10-6/K) in transversal orientation at the range of 20-50℃,a good thermal conductivity(87.2 W/m·K) in longitudinal orientation and(58.2 W/m·K) in transversal orientation.Measured CTE and thermal conductivity values are compared with those predicted by several well-known models.Eshelby model gave better results for prediction of the CTE and thermal conductivity of the unidirectional composites.

Flexible Polydimethylsiloxane Composite with Multi-Scale Conductive Network for Ultra-Strong Electromagnetic Interference Protection

Highly conductive polymer composites(CPCs) with excellent mechanical flexibility are ideal materials for designing excellent electromagnetic interference(EMI) shielding materials,which can be used for the electromagnetic interference protection of flexible electronic devices.It is extremely urgent to fabricate ultra-strong EMI shielding CPCs with efficient conductive networks.In this paper,a novel silver-plated polylactide short fiber(Ag@PL ASF,AAF) was fabricated and was integrated with carbon nanotubes(CNT) to construct a multi-scale conductive network in polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) matrix.The multi-scale conductive network endowed the flexible PDMS/AAF/CNT composite with excellent electrical conductivity of 440 S m-1and ultra-strong EMI shielding effectiveness(EMI SE) of up to 113 dB,containing only 5.0 vol% of AAF and 3.0 vol% of CNT(11.1wt% conductive filler content).Due to its excellent flexibility,the composite still showed 94% and 90% retention rates of EMI SE even after subjected to a simulated aging strategy(60℃ for 7 days) and 10,000 bending-releasing cycles.This strategy provides an important guidance for designing excellent EMI shielding materials to protect the workspace,environment and sensitive circuits against radiation for flexible electronic devices.

Thermal expansion of MWCNT-reinforced copper composite

Multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNT)-reinforced copper composite was fabricated by a novel method,which involves solution phase synthesis of MWCNT-implanted cuprous oxide composite spheres,formation of MWCNT/ copper composite spheres after reduction in H2 atmosphere and preparation of the MWCNT/copper bulk with vacuum hot pressing. The SEM images of the fracture surfaces indicate that MWCNTs are homogeneously dispersed in the composite and bonded to the matrix. In addition,the thermal expansion of the composites with various MWCNT contents(0%,1% and 5%,mass fraction) were investigated. The coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) decreases with increasing MWCNT content,which are all much lower than that of pure copper.

Increasing the Tensile Property of Unidirectional Carbon/Carbon Composites by Grafting Carbon Nanotubes onto Carbon Fibers by Electrophoretic Deposition

Although in-situ growing carbon nanotubes （CNTs） on carbon fibers could greatly increase the matrix-dominated mechanical properties of carbon/carbon composites （C/Cs）, it always decreased the tensile strength of carbon fibers. In this work, CNTs were introduced into unidirectional carbon fiber （CF） preforms by electrophoretic deposition （EPD） and they were used to reinforce C/Cs. Effects of the content of CNTs introduced by EPD on tensile property of unidirectional C/Cs were investigated. Results demonstrated that EPD could be used as a simple and efficient method to fabricate carbon nanotube reinforced C/Cs （CNT-C/Cs） with excellent tensile strength, which pays a meaningful way to maximize the global performance of CNT-C/Cs.

A Novel Multiscale Reinforcement by In-Situ Growing Carbon Nanotubes on Graphene Oxide Grafted Carbon Fibers and Its Reinforced Carbon/Carbon Composites with Improved Tensile Properties

In-situ growing carbon nanotubes （CNTs） directly on carbon fibers （CFs） always lead to a degraded tensile strength of CFs and then a poor fiber-dominated mechanical property of carbon/carbon composites （C/ Cs）. To solve this issue, here, a novel carbon fiber-based multiscale reinforcement is reported. To synthesize it, carbon fibers （CFs） have been first grafted by graphene oxide （GO）, and then carbon nanotubes （CNTs） have been in-situ grown on GO-grafted CFs by catalytic chemical vapor deposition. Characterizations on this novel reinforcement show that GO grafting cannot only nondestructively improve the surface chemical activity of CFs but also protect CFs against the high-temperature corrosion of metal catalyst during CNT growth, which maintains their tensile properties. Tensile property tests for unidirectional C/Cs with different preforms show that this novel reinforcement can endow C/C with improved tensile properties, 32% and 87% higher than that of pure C/C and C/C only doped with in-situ grown CNTs. This work would open up a possibility to fabricate multiscale C/Cs with excellent global performance.

Effect of Growth Temperature on Carbon Nanotube Grafting Morphology and Mechanical Behavior of Carbon Fibers and Carbon] Carbon Composites

High-purity carbon nanotubes （CNTs） with different orientation and lengths were grafted on carbon fibers （CFs） in woven fabrics by using double injection chemical vapor deposition and adjusting the growth temperature. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and Raman investigations reveal that the grafted CNTs change from being predominantly aligned and uniform in di- ameter to absolutely disordered and variable in diameter, whilst they show significantly increased crystallinity, as the growth temperature is increased from 730 ~C to 870 ~C. In tensile tests of fiber bundles, much more strength degradation of CFs was observed after the growth process at higher temperature than that at lower temperature. These hybrid preforms produced at different growth temperatures were used to reinforce carbon/carbon （C/C） composites. An increment of 34.4% in out-of-plane compressive strength （OCS） was obtained for the composites containing CNTs grown at 730℃, while the OCS increment exhibits an obvious decrease with increasing the growth temperature. Compared with the higher growth temperature, the lower temperature contributes to the decrease in the strength loss of reinforcing fibers and meanwhile the growth of large extending length of CNTs, which can provide long reinforcement to the pyrocarbon matrix, and thus increase the compressive strength better.

The effect of carbon nanotubes and polypropylene fibers on bond of reinforcing bars in strain resilient cementitious composites

Stress transfer between reinforcing bars and concrete is engaged through rib translation relative to concrete, and comprises longitudinal bond stresses and radial pressure. The radial pressure is equilibrated by hoop tension undertaken by the concrete cover. Owing to concrete＇s poor tensile properties in terms of strength and deformability, the equilibrium is instantly released upon radial cracking of the cover along the anchorage with commensurate abrupt loss of the bond strength. Any improvement of the matrix tensile properties is expected to favorably affect bond in terms of strength, resilience to pullout slip, residual resistance and controlled slippage.The aim of this paper is to investigate the local bond of steel bars developed in adverse tensile stress conditions in the concrete cover. In the tests, the matrix comprises a novel, strain resilient cementitious composite （SRCC） reinforced with polypropylene fibers （PP） with the synergistic action of carbon nano-tubes （CNT）. Local bond is developed over a short anchorage length occurring in the constant moment region of a four-point bending short beam. Parameters of investigation were the material structure （comprising a basic control mix, reinforced with CNTs and/or PP fibers） and the age of testing. Accompanying tests used to characterize the cementitious material were also conducted. The test results illustrate that all the benefits gained due to the synergy between PP fibers and CNTs in the matrix, namely the maintenance of the multi-cracking effect with time, the increased strength and deformability as well as the highly increased material toughness, were imparted in the recorded bond response. The local bond response curves thus obtained were marked by a resilient appearance exhibiting sustained strength up to large levels of controlled bar-slip; the elasto-plastic bond response envelope was a result of the confining synergistic effect of CNTs and the PP fibers, and it occurred even without bar yielding.

Effect of coating thickness on microstructures and mechanical properties of C/Cu/Al composites

The different copper coatings with thickness varying from 0.3μm to 1.5μm were deposited on carbon fibers using either electroless plating or electroplating method. The coated fibers were chopped and composites were fabricated with melting aluminum at 700℃. The effect of the copper layer on the microstructure in the system was discussed. The results show that the copper layer has fully reacted with aluminum matrix, and the intermetallic compound CuAl2 forms through SEM observation and XRD, EDX analysis. The results of tensile tests indicate that composites fabricated using carbon fibers with 0.7-1.1μm copper coating perform best and the composites turn to more brittle as the thickness of copper coating increases. The fracture surface observation exhibits good interface bonding and ductility of the matrix alloy when the thickness of copper coating is about 0.7-1.1μm.

石墨烯和碳纳米管增强铜基复合材料的研究进展

本文回顾了碳纳米管(CNT)和石墨烯(Gr)增强铜基复合材料的研究进展,探讨了这些复合材料的制备方法、性能提升机制及潜在应用前景。CNT和Gr因独特的物理化学特性,作为铜基复合材料的理想增强相,显著提升了材料的力学性能、导电性和热导率。首先回顾了铜基复合材料的传统制备技术,包括粉末冶金法和机械合金化法,随后介绍了新兴的化学气相沉积(CVD)和电沉积法,这些技术通过直接生长或电化学沉积实现更好的界面结合。对比分析了不同方法的优缺点,指出粉末冶金和机械合金化的成本较低但可能引起增强相分布不均,而CVD法虽能制备高质量材料但成本较高且环境影响敏感。进一步分析了CNT和Gr在铜基体中的分散性及界面结合对性能的影响,强调了良好分散性和强界面结合的重要性。在力学性能方面,CNT和Gr的分散性和界面结合对复合材料的强化机制起着关键作用,包括载荷转移、晶粒细化和Orowan强化等。此外,讨论了CNT和Gr增强铜基复合材料在耐腐蚀性、磨损性能及热管理等方面的应用潜力。尽管存在挑战,但这些复合材料在电力传输、电子器件和航空航天等领域显示出巨大应用前景。未来的研究将集中于微观结构控制、制备工艺创新和多功能复合材料开发,以实现更高性能的工业应用。

High-performance carbon fiber/gold/copper composite wires for lightweight electrical cables

In this study,we synthesized high-performance Carbon Fiber/Gold/Copper(CF/Au/Cu)composite wires by using a 2-step deposition method via sputtering and electrodeposition.After Au was sputtered on PANbased CFs as a pre-treatment,the wettability and surface reactivity of the CFs were improved,resulting in a homogeneous deposition of Cu on their surface.At different Cu electrodeposition time,the resulting CF/Au/Cu composite wires could possess a high strength of up to 3.27 GPa(~10 times stronger than copper wires)while their electrical conductivity could be as high as 4.4×10^5 S/cm(~75%of that for copper).More importantly,since the composite wires were lightweight(up to 70%lower than Cu mass density),they are a promising candidate to substitute conventional heavy metal wires in the future electrical applications.

Enhanced electrothermal effect of carbon fibrous composites decorated with high conductive carbon nanotube webs

Literature has demonstrated that Carbon Nanotubes(CNTs) can greatly enhance the electrical conductivity and matrix-dominated mechanical properties of fibrous composites. However, electrothermal coupling effect of CNTs on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics(CFRPs) has scarcely been considered. This work prepared and introduced thin and porous CNT webs to the surface or/and interface of a CFRP to enhance its electrothermal properties. The results show that CNT webs can enhance the transverse electrical conductivities of the CFRP by 231%-519% in a current range of 50–150mA, when compared to the base-CFRP. Also, the surface temperature of CNT webs decorated CFRP can be improved by 20.5–32.3℃ within 3min showing a self-heating rate of 6.8–10.8℃/min just with an applied voltage of 20–30V, increased by 152%-177% when compared to the base-CFRP(2.7–3.9℃/min). Also, deicing can be finished within 4–10min with a voltage of 18V and an input power of 246W/m^(2). Moreover, the electrothermal processes nearly have no negative effect on the mechanical properties of the CFRP. The relatively low input power and short response time for deicing make the CNT webs decorated CFRP may be a potential new generation for aeronautical deicing structure.