title: Design of Electrically Conductive Structural Composites by Modulating Aligned CVD-Grown Carbon Nanotube Length on Glass Fibers.
abstract: Function-integration in glass fiber (GF) reinforced polymer composites is highly desired for developing lightweight structures and devices with improved performance and structural health monitoring. In this study, homogeneously aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) shell was in situ grafted on GF by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). It was demonstrated that the CNT shell thickness and weight fraction can be modulated by controlling the CVD conditions. The obtained hierarchical CNTs-GF/epoxy composites show highly improved electrical conductivity and thermo-mechanical and flexural properties. The composite through-plane and in-plane electrical conductivities increase from a quasi-isolator value to ∼3.5 and 100 S/m, respectively, when the weight fraction of CNTs grafted on GF fabric varies from 0% to 7%, respectively. Meanwhile, the composite storage modulus and flexural modulus and strength improve as high as 12%, 21%, and 26%, respectively, with 100% retention of the glass transition temperature. The reinforcing mechanisms are investigated by analyzing the composite microstructure and the interfacial adhesion and wetting properties of CNTs-GF hybrids. Moreover, the specific damage-related resistance variation characteristics could be employed to in situ monitor the structural health state of the composites. The outstanding electrical and structural properties of the CNTs-GF composites were due to the specific interfacial and interphase structures created by homogeneously grafting aligned CNTs on each GF of the fabric.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Delong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Benhui
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0852-7950
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Xiaoxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Minhao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mécanique des Sols, Structures et Matériaux (MSSMat), CNRS UMR 8579, Ecole CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay , Grande Voie des Vignes, 92290 Chatenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-0157
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai
keywords: carbon nanotubes; chemical vapor deposition; electrical conductivity; glass fiber; interface/interphase; structural composites