Polymer Nanocomposites for Aerospace Applications: Properties

Polymer nanocomposites may provide significantly increased modulus, gas barrier, thermal performance, atomic oxygen resistance, resistance to small molecule permeation and improved ablative performance when compared to typical traditional carbon‐fiber‐reinforced polymeric composites. This presentation gives a review on both theoretical and experimental investigations extracting valuable fundamental elements including field emission, thermal stability, and electrical, optical and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites for aerospace applicability.     

Polymer Nanocomposites for Aerospace Applications: Fabrication

Nanocomposite polymers have tremendous potential to enhance the performance of macromolecular materials used for composite matrices. Effective utilization of carbon nanotubes in composite applications depends strongly on the ability to homogeneously disperse them throughout the matrix without destroying their integrity. This work looks at the fabrication for montmorillonite, fullerenes and nanotubes polymer/nanocomposites tailored to fit aerospace needs. Further insight is also given on developments in nanofibers and nanotubes production for good load transfer on the composite systems.     

Polymer Nanocomposites for Aerospace Applications: Characterization

Development of several advanced miscroscopic and sprectroscopic techniques have played a key role in the development of characterization and parametric studies of polymer nanocomposites starting from the molecular level. The main issues affecting the production of good quality composites are fiber alignment, fiber‐matrix adhesion and fiber dispersion which makes characterization so vital. The current work reviews the ongoing investigations and techniques to overcome the challenges posed by polymer nanocomposites characterization.     

Epoxy‐Based Fibre Reinforced Nanocomposites

The modification of epoxy resins with nanoparticles could endow the materials with some superior properties such as broadening of the glass transition temperatures, modest increases in the glassy modulus, low dielectric constant, and significant increases in key mechanical properties. In the last 15 years, some studies have shown the potential improvement in properties and performances of fibre reinforced polymer matrix materials in which nano and micro‐scale particles were incorporated. From the existing literature, considerable effort has been given to the synthesis and processing of these unique polymers, but relatively little work has focused on the fibre reinforced epoxy composites. The purpose of this work, therefore, is to review the available literature in epoxy‐fibre reinforced composites manufactured using carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibre and nanoclays for reinforcement.