Development and characterization of conductive graphene-coated prepreg composites for aviation application

Developing a conductive composite using graphene is very important in manufacturing aircraft’s structures toward enhancing their electrical and thermal properties for future aviation application. Consequently, this study was conducted to develop a method to coat carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite (CFRE) with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and functionalized graphene nanoplates (FGNP) to improve and enhance the electrical conductivity and self- heating properties of CFRE in order to obtain an outstanding conductive composite . Hence, this study started with identifying the gab in evaluating the available carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite, then painting method was used in this study to coat CFRE with rGO, while inkjet printing method was used to coat CFRE with FGNP, after that the conductive composites (CFRE/rGO and CFRE/FGNP) was fabricated using hot press molding method, then many experiments were conducted on conductive composites to evaluate it’s electrical and thermal properties. Firstly, atomic force microscopy, morphological characterization and tensile tests were conducted to evaluate the quality of conductive composites. Secondly, four point probe device was used to measure the electrical conductivity value for conductive composites. Finally, experimental work were conducted to study the self-heating of conductive composites. The results showed that rGO and FGNP coating layers were uniformly and homogeneously distributed over the surface of CFRE, and there was no flaws or creation of voids between the coating layers and CFRE surface. It was found that the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with rGO was enhanced and increased significantly by 81 times from 1.38 x 103 (S/m) to 1.12 x 105 (S/m) and with percentage of improvement of 8100 %, while, the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with printed FGNP is enhanced and increased by 22 times from 1.38 x 103 provement of 2146 %. The experimental results showed that the self-heating of CFRE composite was improved and enhanced significantly after coating it with rGO and FGNP. The self-heating was homogeneous, effective and reached higher temperatures more than CFRE neat. It clear that the objectives of this study were achieved, where the conductive composites were developed using rGO and FGNP , hence the electrical and thermal properties were improved and enhanced significantly, which can contribute in aviation applications in the future .

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