Interlaminar resistive heating behavior of woven carbon fiber composite laminates modified with ZnO nanorods

Abstract Thermal heating in the interlaminar region of ZnO/woven carbon fiber composite laminates was investigated. In ZnO/woven carbon fiber composite laminates, the interlaminar region, composed of ZnO nanostructured arrays embedded on woven carbon fiber sheets, interacts with the thermoset vinyl ester resin. ZnO nanostructured arrays were formed into nanorods (NRs) using a hydrothermal process. To investigate the electrical resistive heating behavior of the interlaminar region, we analyzed the temperature profile as a function of time in three zones: a heating zone, a maximum temperature zone, and a cooling zone. The morphology of the ZnO NRs was investigated using scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis was used to characterize the crystallinity and ZnO concentration. Differential scanning calorimetry was employed to analyze the specific heat capacity of ZnO/woven carbon fiber composite laminates. Electrical resistive heating was achieved in the interlaminar region through multiple junctions formed between the intrinsic woven carbon fiber tows and among the ZnO NRs. The contribution of the ZnO NRs to the thermal heat gain was interconnected with the woven carbon fiber and resin in the interlaminar regions. The interlaminar resistance between the upper and lower laminas of ZnO/woven carbon fiber composites increased with incremental increases in the ZnO concentration up to 110 mM. This effect was due to the interlaminar interface and the high surface density of ZnO NRs, which inhibit electron transport into the woven carbon fibers. Resistance decreased following electrical resistive heating due to an increase in the density of free electrons at high temperatures.