MXene Reinforced Thermosetting Composite for Lightning Strike Protection of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Vipin Kumar, Pritesh Yeole, Ahmad Majed, Chanyeop Park, Kai Li, Michael Naguib, Pruthul Kokkada Ravindranath, Charl Jafta, Ryan Spencer, Brett Compton, Uday Vaidya, Vlastimil Kunc

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ti3C2 – a member of the MXenes (2D transition metal carbides and nitrides) family, is investigated as an effective filler to improve the electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of divinylbenzene (DVB) thermosetting resin. Consequently, its performance as a lightning strike protection (LSP) coating for carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is evaluated. Polyaniline (PANI) – dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) complex is used to cure the DVB resin. The synergic effect of MXenes (with surface that is negatively charged) with polyaniline (positive charge) shows electrostatic bonding and improved electrical conductivity in the composite. The addition of MXenes at 2 wt% into the PANI-DVB composite shows ≈139%, 10%, and 9% improvement in electrical conductivity, flexural strength, and flexural modulus, respectively, compared to the neat PANI-DVB composite. The composites are investigated using various material characterization techniques including Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, MXenes-DVB is utilized to create a conductive thermosetting coating on top of a CFRP substrate and tested against a lightning strike of 100 kA. CFRP with MXenes-DVB coating reduced the surface damage from 40.61 cm2 (reference CFRP panel) to 13.29 cm2 (CFRP coated with MXenes-DVB).

Original languageEnglish
Article number2100803
JournalAdvanced Materials Interfaces
Volume8
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 9 2021

Funding

This research was supported by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Advanced Manufacturing Office, and used resources at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), a DOE-EERE User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Authors also thank Dr. Nitilaksha Hiremath for performing SEM experiment. This research was supported by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Advanced Manufacturing Office, and used resources at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), a DOE‐EERE User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Authors also thank Dr. Nitilaksha Hiremath for performing SEM experiment.

Keywords

  • MXene
  • flame-retardant materials
  • lightning strike protection
  • polyaniline
  • thermosetting composites

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