THE MASS PRODUCTION OF MWCNTS/EPOXY SCAFFOLDS USING LATERAL BELT-DRIVEN MULTI-NOZZLE ELECTROSPINNING SETUP TO ENHANCE PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CFRP

Abstract

Electrospinning is the process of ejecting a polymer melt or solution through a nozzle in the presence of a high-voltage electric field, which causes it to coalesce into a continuous filament with various shapes from a submicron to nanometer diameter. This process has gained vast attention because of its versatility, low cost, and ease of processing, leading to a massive demand for translating electrospinning experiments out of the laboratory into commercialized production. This manuscript represents an approach to mass-producing MWCNTs/Epoxy scaffolds using Lateral Belt Driven (LBD) multi-nozzle electrospinning technique to enhance CFRP's physical and mechanical properties. We mitigated the non-uniform electric field distribution challenges with the LBD approach, which helped obtain a single layer and welluniformed coverage of the electrospun MWCNTs/Epoxy scaffolds onto CFRP sheets. Interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and fatigue performance under high-stress conditions improved by 29% and 27%, respectively. The energy of barely visible impact damage (BVID) improved by up to 45%.