This review paper summarizes the current state-of-art and challenges for the future developments of fiber-reinforced composites for structural applications with multifunctional capabilities. After a ...brief analysis of the reasons of the successful incorporation of fiber-reinforced composites in many different industrial sectors, the review analyzes three critical factors that will define the future of composites. The first one is the application of novel fiber-deposition and preforming techniques together with innovative liquid moulding strategies. The second is the combination of these techniques by optimization tools based on novel multiscale modeling approaches, so fiber-reinforced composites with optimized properties can be designed and manufactured for each application. In addition, the third is the enhancement of composite applications by the incorporation of multifunctional capabilities. Among them, electrical conductivity, energy storage (structural supercapacitors and batteries) and energy harvesting (piezoelectric and solar energy) seem to be the most promising ones.
There is an ever‐growing need to protect our environment by increasing energy efficiency and developing “clean” energy sources. These are global challenges, and their resolution is vital to our ...energy security. Although many conventional materials, such as metals, ceramics, and plastics, cannot fulfil all requirements for these new technologies, many material combinations can offer synergistic effects that create improved and even new properties. The implementation of nanocarbons, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, into nanocomposites and, more recently, into the new class of hybrids, are very promising examples. In contrast to classical nanocomposites, where a low volume fraction of the carbon component is mixed into a polymer or ceramic matrix, hybrids are materials in which nanocarbon is coated with a thin layer of the functional compound, which introduces the interface as a powerful new parameter. Based on interfacial charge and energy transfer processes, nanocarbon hybrids have shown increased sensitivities in gas sensors, improved efficiencies in photovoltaics, superior activities in photocatalysts, and enhanced capacities in supercapacitors. This review compares the characteristics and potentials of both nanocarbon composites and hybrids, highlights recent developments in their synthesis and discusses key challenges for their use in various energy applications.
Composites and hybrids go energy: The combination of graphene and carbon nanotubes into composites and, more recently, into the new class of hybrids creates new functional energy materials, whose synergistic effects are based on interfacial charge and heat transfer processes. In this Minireview, we provide a critical distinction between nanocomposites and nanocarbon hybrids with specific relation to sustainability as well as an overview of synthesis strategies.
Objective
The polyglutamine diseases, including Huntington's disease (HD) and multiple spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), are among the commonest hereditary neurodegenerative diseases. They are caused ...by expanded CAG tracts, encoding glutamine, in different genes. Longer CAG repeat tracts are associated with earlier ages at onset, but this does not account for all of the difference, and the existence of additional genetic modifying factors has been suggested in these diseases. A recent genome‐wide association study (GWAS) in HD found association between age at onset and genetic variants in DNA repair pathways, and we therefore tested whether the modifying effects of variants in DNA repair genes have wider effects in the polyglutamine diseases.
Methods
We assembled an independent cohort of 1,462 subjects with HD and polyglutamine SCAs, and genotyped single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected from the most significant hits in the HD study.
Results
In the analysis of DNA repair genes as a group, we found the most significant association with age at onset when grouping all polyglutamine diseases (HD+SCAs; p = 1.43 × 10–5). In individual SNP analysis, we found significant associations for rs3512 in FAN1 with HD+SCAs (p = 1.52 × 10–5) and all SCAs (p = 2.22 × 10–4) and rs1805323 in PMS2 with HD+SCAs (p = 3.14 × 10–5), all in the same direction as in the HD GWAS.
Interpretation
We show that DNA repair genes significantly modify age at onset in HD and SCAs, suggesting a common pathogenic mechanism, which could operate through the observed somatic expansion of repeats that can be modulated by genetic manipulation of DNA repair in disease models. This offers novel therapeutic opportunities in multiple diseases. Ann Neurol 2016;79:983–990
This work presents a method to produce structural composites capable of energy storage. They are produced by integrating thin sandwich structures of CNT fiber veils and an ionic liquid-based polymer ...electrolyte between carbon fiber plies, followed by infusion and curing of an epoxy resin. The resulting structure behaves simultaneously as an electric double-layer capacitor and a structural composite, with flexural modulus of 60 GPa and flexural strength of 153 MPa, combined with 88 mF/g of specific capacitance and the highest power (30 W/kg) and energy (37.5 mWh/kg) densities reported so far for structural supercapacitors. In-situ electrochemical measurements during 4-point bending show that electrochemical performance is retained up to fracture, with minor changes in equivalent series resistance for interleaves under compressive stress. En route to improving interlaminar properties we produce grid-shaped interleaves that enable mechanical interconnection of plies by the stiff epoxy. Synchrotron 3D X-ray tomography analysis of the resulting hierarchical structure confirms the formation of interlaminar epoxy joints. The manuscript discusses encapsulation role of epoxy, demonstrated by charge-discharge measurements of composites immersed in water, a deleterious agent for ionic liquids. Finally, we show different architectures free of current collector and electrical insulators, in which both CNT fiber and CF act as active electrodes.
Composites have set the standard for high strength materials for several decades. With the discovery of nanotubes, new possibilities for reinforced composites have arisen, with potential mechanical ...properties superior to those of currently available materials. This paper reports the properties of epoxy matrix reinforced with fibres of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which, in many ways, are similar to standard composites reinforced with commercial fibres. The composites were formed by the back diffusion of the uncured epoxy into an array of aligned fibres of CNTs. The fibre density and volume fraction were measured from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Properties in tension and compression were measured, and the level of fibre–matrix interaction analysed fractographically. The results show the significant potential for this route to CNT reinforcement.
The assembly of nanocarbons (carbon nanotubes, graphene) into macroscopic architectures has led to a new type of mesoporous graphitic materials with an exceptional combination of high surface area, ...electrical conductivity,and toughness. With a porosity close to that of an activated carbon and tensile properties in the high-performance range, macroscopic carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers are ideal current collectors for lightweight robust devices, such as supercapacitors, batteries, biofuel cells, solar cells,and energy scavengers. In this Perspective, we discuss the basic properties of CNT ensembles compared to other carbon electrodes and present examples of their operation as part of electrochemical and electronic devices. We show the possibility to assemble the nanocarbon building blocks hierarchically and combine them with additional phases (e.g., metal oxides, semiconductors,and polymer electrolytes) to produce large-surface electronic junctions and interfaces for electrochemical energy storage. The challenges ahead include understanding better the interactions at the interface between nanocarbon electrode and active phase and how they can be chemically tailored to exploit more efficiently interfacial charge transfer and accumulation processes.
We present a method to spin highly oriented continuous fibers of adjustable carbon nanotube (CNT) type, with mechanical properties in the high-performance range. By lowering the concentration of ...nanotubes in the gas phase, through either reduction of the precursor feed rate or increase in carrier gas flow rate, the density of entanglements is reduced and the CNT aerogel can thus be drawn (up to 18 draw ratio) and wound at fast rates (>50 m/min). This is achieved without affecting the synthesis process, as demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy, and implies that the parameters controlling composition in terms of CNT diameter and number of layers are decoupled from those fixing CNT orientation. Applying polymer fiber wet-spinning principles then, strong CNT fibers (1 GPa/SG) are produced under dilute conditions and high draw ratios, corresponding to highly aligned fibers (from wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering). This is demonstrated for fibers either made up of predominantly single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs) or predominantly multiwall CNTs (MWCNTs), which surprisingly have very similar tensile properties. Finally, we show that postspin densification has no substantial effect on either alignment or properties (mechanical and electrical). These results demonstrate a route to control CNT assembly and reinforce their potential as a high-performance fiber.
Chemical functionalization of nanocarbons is an important strategy to produce electrochemical systems with higher energy/power density by generating surface functional groups with additional faradaic ...contribution, by increasing their surface area and correspondent capacitive contribution and by improving compatibility with aqueous electrolytes and other active materials, such as pseudocapacitive metal-oxides. Here we present an electrochemical method to simultaneously swell and functionalize large electrodes consisting of fabrics of macroscopic fibers of carbon nanotubes that renders the material hydrophilic and produces a substantial increase of specific capacitance and energy density in aqueous electrolytes. Through in-depth characterization of the carbon nanotube fibres (CNTF) by Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectrocn spectroscopy (XPS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) we identify various contributions to such improvements, including surface oxidation, tubular unzipping, debundling and inter-bundle swelling. Changes in hydrophilicity of functionalized CNTF are determined by analyzing the dynamics of spreading of polar and nonpolar liquids in the electrodes. The extracted contact angles and polar and dispersive surface energy components for different treatment conditions are in agreement with changes in dipole-moment obtained by XPS. Finally, functionalized CNTF electrodes were employed in current collector-free solid flexible supercapacitors, which show enhanced electrochemical properties compared to as-produced hydrophobic ones.
Display omitted
Supercapacitors capable of providing high voltage, energy and power density but yet light, low volume occupying, flexible and mechanically robust are highly interesting and demanded for portable ...applications. Herein, freestanding flexible hybrid electrodes based on MnO2 nanoparticles grown on macroscopic carbon nanotube fibers (CNTf-MnO2) were fabricated, without the need of any metallic current collector. The CNTf, a support with excellent electrical conductivity, mechanical stability, and appropriate pore structure, was homogeneously decorated with porous akhtenskite ɛ-MnO2 nanoparticles produced via electrodeposition in an optimized organic-aqueous mixture. Electrochemical properties of these decorated fibers were evaluated in different electrolytes including a neutral aqueous solution and a pure 1-butyl-3-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquid (PYR14TFSI). This comparison helps discriminate the various contributions to the total capacitance: (surface) Faradaic and non-Faradaic processes, improved wetting by aqueous electrolytes. Accordingly, symmetric supercapacitors with PYR14TFSI led to a high specific energy of 36 Wh·kgMnO2−1 (16 Wh·kg−1 including the weight of CNTf) and real specific power of 17 kW·kgMnO2−1 (7.5 kW kg−1) at 3.0 V with excellent cycling stability. Moreover, flexible all solid-state supercapacitors were fabricated using PYR14TFSI-based polymer electrolyte, exhibiting maximum energy density of 21 Wh·kg−1 and maximum power density of 8 kW kg−1 normalized by total active material.
•MnO2 dandelion-shape nanoparticles were decorated on macroscopic CNT fibers.•MnO2-CNTf demonstrated excellent properties for high voltage 3 V supercapacitors.•High specific energy of 36 Wh.kg−1 was achieved in PYR14TFSI electrolyte.•Flexible all solid state supercapacitors showed max. energy density of 21 Wh.kg−1.
PDF
