Multifunctional composites with self-sensing capabilities: Carbon nanotube-based networks

Increasingly materials and systems are being tailored to achieve multifunctional properties where they can combine active, sensory, adaptive, and autonomic capabilities. Toward the development of these material capabilities there is a critical need to develop methodologies and devices for in situ self-sensing. The expansion of processing techniques that enable structuring materials at the nanoscale combined with development of new methods for analysis should enable optimization of material structure to achieve systems that satisfy specific functional requirements. In this research we demonstrate that conducting carbon nanotube networks formed in an epoxy polymer matrix can be utilized as highly sensitive sensors for both strain and damage accumulation in advanced fiber composites.