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Composites gain mechanical, electrical and sensing abilities from just 0.005% carbon nanotubes

The Skoltech Laboratory of Nanomaterials, along with the Ural Federal University and the Institute of Engineering Science Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have published findings on how single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) can be used to create multifunctional composite structures regardless of their quality when used in extremely small amounts.

The , reporting the findings on the percolation level addition of SWCNTs to carbon fiber composites, was published in Polymer Composites.

The work is one of the first to experimentally investigate SWCNT defectiveness, connect it with material system multifunctionality, and highlight how this nanomaterial can allow relaxation in typical quality parameters for high-performance materials.

"Generally, nanomaterial parameters are highly controlled during composite and nanocomposite manufacturing to ensure consistent performance. We wanted to identify where these boundaries lie for property improvement when integrating SWCNTs," said Hassaan Ahmad Butt, a research scientist at the Laboratory of Nanomaterials and one of the first authors, who equally contributed to the study.

"SWCNTs only need percolation level addition (~0.005% weight) to cause multifunctional property augmentation, and in this amount, they provide great flexibility and economic advantages for manufacturing processes and performance."

Assistant Professor Dmitry Krasnikov, the co-supervisor of the work, commented, "The results were initially quite surprising. Not only did we not expect property development to be independent of SWCNT defectiveness at these levels, but we also did not expect performance to be similar to works which used 1–2 orders of magnitude higher amounts of carbon nanotubes.

"The findings strongly show how SWCNTs can outshine their multi-walled counterparts, and in the process, make industrial utilization more attractive."

Professor Albert Nasibulin, the head of the Skoltech Laboratory of Nanomaterials, stated, "Industrial implementation of nanomaterials has always been the key driving force for our research. With our partners working in the aerospace sphere, we were able to investigate SWCNTs in industrial grade materials and applications.

"The SWCNTs not only promote high mechanical performance, but provide exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity paired with self-sensing abilities. This all-around development allows a single material to do multiple jobs, in turn helping to make entire systems less complex, more economical and highly adaptable to cutting edge requirements."