The electrical conductivity and interlaminar fracture toughness of composite laminate interleaved with silver-plated nylon mesh

A composite laminate with high conductivity and high mode I fracture toughness was prepared by using a silver-plated nylon mesh as the interleaf. Through in-depth comparison with the silver-plated non-woven veil interleaved composites, the mechanisms of the conductivity improvement and interlaminar toughening were discussed. The conductivities along the fiber direction, in transverse to fiber direction and through thickness direction reached 739 S/cm, 734 S/cm, and 5.4 S/cm, respectively, which increased by 196%, 344,500%, and 4326%, respectively, and are much higher than these of the other modified systems. At the same time, the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness increased by 112%. Mechanism study shows that the conductivities along the fiber direction and in transverse to fiber direction are greatly affected by the interleaf conductivity, while the conductivity through thickness direction is little affected. The toughening mechanism of the plain or silver-plated nylon mesh is much different from that of the non-woven veils. Both of the composites interleaved with the plain or silver-plated nylon mesh have higher mode I interlaminar fracture toughness, but less improved mode II toughness. The effect of silver-plating on the mode I and mode II fracture toughness was studied.