Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Interleaves for Multifunctional Fiber Reinforced Composites

摘要

The integration of energy storage into structural multifunctional materials has found use in a wide variety of applications, such as future air and ground vehicles. However, the present realization of these materials cannot be used to increase the structural properties thus limiting its future use in these applications. Here, we developed a novel multifunctional composite material using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) interleaves in carbon fiber composites. The carbon fibers function as both the structural reinforcement as well as the electrodes for the dielectric polymer. It has shown that energy storage functionality can be added into the composites with no reduction in the short beam shear strength. Currently, the breakdown strength is low due to challenges in the processing of the composites and the potential for regions of reduced thickness during pressing. In future research, the manufacturing process of the composites will be investigated to improve the breakdown strength in order to obtain high energy density in addition to preserving the outstanding mechanical properties. This new multifunctional material will open a door to the development of advanced structures that distribute energy storage throughout the composite thus eliminating their current ad hoc implementation.