Multifunctional NanoPaper for Wear Resistance and Conductive Applications

Polymer composite materials are widely used in the aerospace, transportation and energy production industries because of their superior specific strength, lower density, and higher corrosion resistance compared to monolithic metal alloys. However, certain physical properties such as wear resistance and electrical conductivity are still lower than their metal counterparts.

There have been significant research efforts to improve the erosion wear resistance as well as the electrical conductivity of these materials through the addition of nanoparticles such as Carbon Nanotubes (CNT’s), Carbon Nanofibers (CNF’s), and nanographites. The most widely used method of including these nanoparticles is to disperse them into the desired polymer matrix by means of high shear mixing (for thermosets) or twins screw compounding (for thermoplastics). It has been found that incorporating nanoparticles by these means present a loading maximum beyond which there is agglomeration and loss of properties.

This poster presents a novel low cost approach to improve the erosion wear resistance, scratch resistance and electrical conductivity of polymer materials. The approach consists of a comfortable nanoparticle based film which can be integrated onto the host materials surface by means of the molding process or by subsequent adhesion. The film is fabricated by means of a spray deposition process which allows for great control over particle dispersion, nanoparticle loading, thickness control and homogeneity. This process is capable of fabricating nanoparticle based films with nanoparticle loadings above 50% by volume.

This new nanoparticle reinforced Buckeye NanoPaper® has excellent wear resistance and electrical conductivity characteristics suitable for applications such as protective coatings for scratch resistance, solid particle erosion protection, ESD protection, EMI shielding, and de-icing.