ABSTRACT

This study investigates the carbon nanotube (CNT) penetration phenomenon in vacuum infusion (VI) process by means of electrical conductivity measurement. Effects of resin temperature, CNT content, and the processing technique on the overall composite laminate quality were investigated by monitoring electrical properties of composite sheets. Epoxy/woven glass fibre composites loaded with various CNT contents were also manufactured using compression moulding and vacuum bagging techniques for comparison purposes. VI was achieved at two different temperatures (25°C and 50°C) to study the effect of variation in viscosity on CNT penetration during infusion. The results showed that electrical conductivity measurement was a very effective tool to assess the CNT penetration state of composite laminates in VI method. Both the resistive and capacitive behaviour in composite laminates due to filtration of CNTs at higher CNT contents was observed. However, the CNT penetration was improved by increasing the temperature of epoxy/CNT mixture before the infusion.

摘要

本研究通过电导率测量研究了真空灌注 (VI) 过程中碳纳米管 (CNT) 的渗透现象。通过监测复合板的电气性能，研究了树脂温度、CNT 含量和加工技术对复合材料层压板整体质量的影响。出于比较目的，还使用压缩成型和真空袋装技术制造了载有各种 CNT 含量的环氧树脂/编织玻璃纤维复合材料。VI 在两个不同的温度（25°C 和 50°C）下实现，以研究灌注过程中粘度变化对 CNT 渗透的影响。结果表明，电导率测量是评估 VI 方法中复合材料层合板 CNT 渗透状态的非常有效的工具。观察到由于在较高 CNT 含量下过滤 CNT 而导致的复合层压板中的电阻和电容行为。然而，通过在灌注前提高环氧树脂/CNT 混合物的温度，CNT 渗透得到改善。