Characterization of Tailored Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Based Composite for Geo-Space Payload Components

The intense research and development efforts in space industries leads to the design and manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) applications for high specific stiffness structural components. Nowadays, there is much research on replacing the traditional space qualified high-density materials. CFRP has low thermal and electrical conductivity due to the non-conductive nature of the polymer, which limits its utilization in space industries. These are essential properties for space component design. Advanced nanomaterial, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with 0.4 wt.% reinforcement in epoxy enhances the thermal and electrical conductivities by 41% and 500–625%, respectively, which is sufficient to electroplate the CFRP. Direct electroplating without surface activation on MWCNTs composite can be achieved due to enhancement of the electrical conductivity, which is not feasible in the case of neat CFRP. However, homogeneous dispersion of CNT is essential for better electroplating adhesion strength. Electroplating on CFRP components results allow us to explore the potential applications for future geo-space missions such as carrier plates and radio frequency (RF) filters. The paper explains the fabrication of the tailored CNT-CFRP composite sample and characterization that includes the properties such as thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and electrical resistance, which is a significant preceding step for any material to be space-qualified.