Two-Steps Method to Prepare Multilayer Sandwich Structure Carbon Fiber Composite with Thermal and Electrical Anisotropy and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 2; p. 680
• Main Authors: Zhang, Chuanqi, Bi, Lansen, Shi, Song, Wang, Huanhuan, Zhang, Da, He, Yan, Li, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Arc spraying; Carbon fibers; Carbon nanotubes; Curing; Dielectric properties; Electrical resistivity; Electromagnetic interference; Electromagnetic shielding; Epoxy resins; Fiber composites; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Iron oxides; Morphology; Multilayers; Nanomaterials; Performance enhancement; plasma spraying; Sandwich structures; Scanning electron microscopy; Sheaths; structural composites; Substrates; Thermal conductivity; China; Japan; carbon nanotubes; structural composites; plasma spraying
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16020680

Carbon fiber (CF) composites performance enhancement is a research hotspot at present. In this work, first, a sandwich structure composite, CF@(carbon nanotube/Fe
O
)/epoxy (CF@(CNT/Fe
O
)/EP), is prepared by the free arc dispersion-CFs surface spraying-rolling process method, herein, CFs in the middle layer and (CNT/Fe
O
)/EP as top and substrate layer. Then, CF@(CNT/Fe
O
)/EP (on both sides) and CFs (in the middle) are overlapped by structure design, forming a multilayer CF@(CNT/Fe
O
)/EP-CFs composite with a CFs core sheath. A small amount of CNT/Fe
O
is consumed, (CNT/Fe
O
)/EP and CFs core sheath realize thermal and electrical anisotropy and directional enhancement, and multilayer sandwich structure makes the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance better strengthened by multiple absorption-reflection/penetration-reabsorption. From CF-0 to CF-8, CNT/Fe
O
content only increases by 0.045 wt%, axial thermal conductivity (λ
) increases from 0.59 W/(m·K) to 1.1 W/(m·K), growth rate is 86%, radial thermal conductivity (λ
) only increases by 0.05 W/(m·K), the maximum λ
/λ
is 2.9, axial electrical conductivity (σ
) increases from 6.2 S/cm to 7.7 S/cm, growth rate is 24%, radial electrical conductivity (σ
) only increases by 0.7 × 10
S/cm, the total EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE
) increases by 196%, from 10.3 dB to 30.5 dB. This provides a new idea for enhancing CFs composite properties.