Assessment of electrical and mechanical properties of carbon-fiber composites enhanced with carbon fabric interleaves

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been widely used in several high-performance and lightweight applications in recent years, particularly in the aerospace and renewable energy industries. However, their poor electrical conductivity limits their resilience to lightning strikes, posing a significant challenge to their broader application. Enhancing both the electrical and mechanical properties of CFRPs is therefore a critical research focus. Herein, this study addresses these challenges by incorporating electrically conductive non-woven carbon veils as an interleaving material in CFRPs, utilizing a heat press manufacturing technique to achieve autoclave-quality laminates. The integration of carbon veils significantly improved the electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and thermal properties of the composites. Specifically, adding 8-gsm carbon veils resulted in a 31.37% decrease in electrical volume resistivity. Mode-II interlaminar fracture toughness (ILFT) saw substantial improvements with 133.07% and 104.59% increases in the Mode-II strain energy release rate initiation (G_IIC,ini) and propagation (G_{IIC, prop}), respectively. Additionally, shear and compressive strengths improved by 8.72% and 31.75%, respectively, with the incorporation of up to 8-gsm carbon veils, indicating better load distribution. The glass transition temperature also showed a slight increase. The findings suggest that non-woven carbon veils are a highly effective interleaving material for enhancing the electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of CFRPs. These enhancements thus broaden the potential applications of CFRPs in high-performance fields.