New materials help carbon fiber "get rid of" traditional coating

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials, which can enhance the strength of lightweight bicycles and tennis rackets, are popular in the aerospace industry because of its ultra light and super strong properties Now, British researchers have developed a carbon nanotube functional material, which can replace the traditional coating called "polymer slurry" on the surface of carbon fiber The new polymer developed by the Institute of advanced technology at the University of Surrey, the center for innovation and science at the University of Bristol and Bombardier, an aerospace company, can enhance conductivity and thermal conductivity, and can also directly use small tools such as sensors and energy collectors Embedded in material According to an article published in the Journal of scientific report, the researchers used chemical vapor deposition technology to grow large-area, high-quality carbon nanotubes on carbon fiber substrates at sensitive temperatures, which are not easy to degrade Although this work is not the first time to incorporate carbon nanotubes into polymer composites, it is the first time to claim that they can directly replace polymer pastes Ravi Silva, who led the study, said the combination of carbon nanotubes with carbon fiber materials would not result in high porosity, which would ensure and improve the mechanical integrity of carbon fiber materials even without polymer slurry "It's amazing because previously it was thought that uncoated carbon fibers were difficult to operate and combine with composite materials." It is reported that this kind of carbon fiber composite modified by carbon nanotubes can include small electronic accessories, and it also has certain self repairing ability According to the intellectual property partners of the study, the next challenge facing the research team is how to extend the technology to a larger scale of production Silva said that the optimization plan for the scale expansion of the technology is being considered, and hopes to promote the application of the technology in many different fields and reach consensus with potential partners in related fields.