A new nanopaper that exhibits exciting electrical and electromagnetic performances is fabricated by incorporating
magnetically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) with carbon nanofibers (CNFs). Electromagnetic CNTs were blended with
and aligned into the nanopaper using a magnetic field, to significantly improve the electrical and electromagnetic
performances of nanopaper and its enabled shape-memory polymer (SMP) composite. The morphology and structure of
the aligned CNT arrays in nanopaper were characterized with scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). A continuous and
compact network of CNFs and aligned CNTs indicated that the nanopaper could have highly conductive properties.
Furthermore, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency of the SMP composites with different weight
content of aligned CNT arrays was characterized. Finally, the aligned CNT arrays in nanopapers were employed to
achieve the electrical actuation and accelerate the recovery speed of SMP composites.
Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process was used to fabricate the nanocomposites through integrating carbon nanofiber paper into traditional glass fiber reinforced composites. The carbon nanofiber paper had a porous structure with highly entangled carbon nanofibers and short glass fibers. In this study, the carbon nanofiber paper was employed as an inter-layer and surface layer of composite laminates to enhance the damping properties. Experiments conducted using the nanocomposite beam indicated up to 200-700% increase of the damping ratios at higher frequencies. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization of the carbon nanofiber paper and the nanocomposites was also conducted to investigate the impregnation of carbon nanofiber paper by the resin during the VARTM process and the mechanics of damping augmentation. The study showed a complete penetration of the resin through the carbon nanofiber paper. The connectivities between carbon nanofibers and short glass fibers within the carbon nanofiber paper were responsible for the significant energy dissipation in the nanocomposites during the damping tests.
Conference Committee Involvement (1)
Second International Conference on Smart Materials and Nanotechnology in Engineering
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