Electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotubes for improved ablation resistance of carbon/carbon composites

Abstract CNTs have been introduced into C/C composites by electrophoretic deposition to improve their ablation performance. Mass ablation of C/C composites decreases by 64% with an optimized CNT content. Mechanical exfoliation is mainly responsible for the mass loss of C/C composites under oxyacetylene ablation as confirmed by SEM observations and static oxidation experiments. By applying CNTs with an optimized content, thermal conductance of the composites increases by 24.5% and the fiber-matrix interfacial strength increases by 74.6%. Local thermal damage is significantly relieved and matrix peeling off by high-velocity gas is inhibited, which lead to the significant decrease of mechanical ablation.