Beschreibung
In this work, the electrical properties of epoxy nanocomposites with carbon nanoparticles as conductive filler are investigated for different processing conditions. Compared to a classical shaping process for epoxy materials, the application of electric fields during the curing process is used as an additional process parameter. Electric fields are applied to the nanocomposites during curing, influencing the electrical properties of the final material by inducing polarization and dipole interactions between the conductive particles (dielectrophoresis), leading to a new micro- and nanostructure of the conductive network. This phenomenon is studied for a system of single-wall carbon nanotube and the impact of processing parameters on the electrical response of the system is evaluated. A scalable process based on resin transfer moulding for producing nanocomposites under electric fields is developed. This processing technique presents promising results for enhancing and tailoring the electrical conductivity of polymer nanocomposites.