Electrically Conductive MXene-Coated Glass Fibers for Damage Monitoring in Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Multifunctional fiber-reinforced composites play a significant role in advanced aerospace and military applications due to their high strength and toughness resulting in superior damage tolerance. However, early detection of structural changes prior to visible damage is critical for extending the lifetime of the part. MXenes, an emerging class of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, possess hydrophilic surfaces, high electrical conductivity and mechanical properties that can potentially be used to identify damage within fiber-reinforced composites. In this work, conductive Ti3C2Tx MXene flakes were successfully transferred onto insulating glass fibers via oxygen plasma treatment improving adhesion. Increasing plasma treatment power, time and coating layers lead to a decrease in electrical resistance of MXene-coated fibers. Optimized uniformity was achieved using an alternating coating approach with smaller flakes helping initiate and facilitate adhesion of larger flakes. Tensile testing with in-situ electrical resistance tracking showed resistances as low as 1.8 kΩ for small-large flake-coated fiber bundles before the break. Increased resistance was observed during testing, but due to good adhesion between the fiber and MXene, most connective pathways within fiber bundles remained intact until fiber bundles were completely separated. These results demonstrate a potential use of MXene-coated glass fibers in damage-sensing polymer-matrix composites.

Influence of morphology and architecture on properties and applications of MXene polymeric nanocomposites

“…In another investigation, conductive Ti 3 C 2 Tx M-X flakes underwent successful transfer to insulative glass fibers through oxygen plasma modification thereby enhancing adherence. 20 Escalating plasma modification power, time as well as coating layers result in decrement in M-X@ fibers electrical resistance.…”

“…Bigger flakes were seen exhibiting EC of ∼3500 S/cm on fabrication of freestanding films, while miniature flakes displayed conductivity of 2200 S/cm within the film. 20 Figure 8B (a) presents the average spectra for both 5-dip LF and SLF-coated fibers. SEM images of fiber surfaces exposed satisfactory adherence and coating of Ti 3 C 2 Tx for both LF M-X coating strategies (Figure 8B (b)).…”

“…The equivalent electrical resistance graphs of varying plasma power and modification duration are depicted in Figure 9A (c, d). 20 Figure 9B (a, d) depicts the resistance variation with incremental tensile load as a function of time for LF-and SLF-coated glass fiber bundles. Thus, tensile load gets close to 5-6 N close to break after ∼275 s, an increment in electrical resistance is reported as free standing fibers commences breakage within the bundle commences separation thereby interrupting the conductive route (Figure 9B (a, d)).…”

Screening of Metal-Ion Intercalated Yttrium Carbide and Nitride MXenes for Energy Storage Applications via Density Functional Theory

“…The structural arrangements, the nature of the transition metals and surface terminations elements give rise to different electronic structures such as metallic, semi-metallic, semiconductor, insulator and magnetic ordering. These properties have been explored in electrochemical energy storage [10,11], thermoelectric applications [26,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42], water purification [43][44][45], triboelectric devices [46], sensors [47][48][49][50] and telecommunications [51]. The most relevant application to our work is in energy storage where many authors have explored using both theoretical and experimental methods [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60].…”

Experimental Investigation of Additive Manufacturing of Continuous Carbon Fiber Composites with Multifunctional Electro-Tensile Properties

“…The following parameters are varied: infill density and infill patterns of chopped composite material, fiber volume fraction, and printing architecture of continuous fiber reinforcement composites [ 12 ]. Characterization of tensile properties and in-situ electrical resistance was conducted on traditionally manufactured specimens made of MXene-coated fibers by employing an Instron 3365 tensile testing machine and connecting them to a Keysight 34461A digital multimeter (Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, USA) for electrical resistance measurements in [ 13 ]. Simultaneous electrical and mechanical measurements under load are used to study the fiber-matrix interface, the fiber residual compressive stress, and the fiber waviness in carbon fiber composites [ 14 ].…”