Electro-thermal and mechanical performance of multi-wall carbon nanotubes buckypapers embedded in fibre reinforced polymer composites for ice protection applications

Several ice protection strategies have been developed to overcome the icing hazards in the aerospace industry. The electro-thermal method is one of the popular approaches to prevent ice accretion and accumulation on aircraft surfaces. Given the increasing requirement of composites on aircraft structures, metal frameworks/fibre-reinforced composites have been developed as a de-icing solution for the new generation aircraft. The present work aimed to fabricate self-heating multi-wall carbon nanotubes based composites for ice protection and to study their electro-thermal and mechanical characteristics. Carbon nanotube buckypapers (CNPs) were prepared and embedded in fibre reinforced polymer composites by two methods: pre-preg and resin impregnation. The influence of the carbon nanotube network structure on the mechanical properties and electrical characteristics of the composites was evaluated. Mechanical tests, three-point flexural test and interlaminar shear strength test demonstrated improved mechanical characteristics of the CNP based composites. De-icing performance of the composites was conducted through a heating test in a climate chamber at −20℃. The results indicated that the CNP-based composite is a promising self-heating material candidate for ice protection systems.