Enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer composites

Carbon fiber-reinforced Polymericomposites (CFRP) are becoming most important structural materials for aircraft structures, satellites, missiles, and other aerospace applications. However, extending these materials for thermal and electronic applications is restricted by the poor thermal conductivity. In order to improve the thermal conductivity of CFRP composites, two methods were followed. In the first method, the polymer matrix was made conductive by incorporating various fillers (copper powder, carbon nanotubes and graphene ). Using these conductive matrices, CFRP composites were developed by vacuum bag molding technique. In the second approach, in addition to fillers, a continuous copper mesh was embedded for fabricating the CFRP composite. The in-plane and out- of -plane thermal conductivity of the CFRP composites was measured by hot disc. From the results obtained, it was found that the in-plane thermal conductivity of the CFRP decreased with the filler inclusion whereas the out- of- plane conductivity of the composite was enhanced. In case of copper mesh embedded CFRP composites, both in the plane and out of plane thermal conductivity was enhanced Further, the effect of filler addition and copper mesh inclusion on the mechanical strength was studied by measuring the interlaminar shear strength(ILSS) and was substantiated by NDT characterization.