Real time monitoring of the curing degree and the manufacturing process of fiber reinforced composites with a carbon nanotube buckypaper sensor

This paper proposes a flexible and highly sensitive carbon nanotube buckypaper as a sensing layer embedded within a composite for cure monitoring applications. The buckypaper was fabricated with mono-dispersion of multi-wall carbon nanotubes by a spray-vacuum filtration method. Six different curing conditions (with maximum heating temperatures of 120 °C, 108 °C, 95 °C, 90 °C, 85 °C and 75 °C) were designed to characterize and analyze the electromechanical response of the BP sensor to the composite structure, and the results indicated that the temperature coefficient of resistance of buckypaper is associated to the resin curing behavior. The critical value (−7.18 × 10(−4) °C(−1)) of the temperature coefficient of resistance was determined. Experimental results also show that a stable three-dimensional network of resin molecular chains is formed and that the polymer presents a glassy state when the value of the temperature coefficient of resistance is greater than the critical value. Based on this relationship, a hypothesis was raised that for the complete curing of the resin, the temperature coefficient of resistance of the buckypaper sensor should meet the critical value condition, which was also consistent with the differential scanning calorimetry testing of the curing degree. The buckypaper sensor was found to be sensitive to the curing degree of the resin, and has a promising future in applications in composite manufacturing processes. Moreover, the properties of composite components are indeed able to be improved via the monitoring and optimization of the curing parameters.