Printable self-heating coatings based on the use of carbon nanoreinforcements

Graphitic nanofillers reinforced epoxy coatings have been manufactured using UV-photopolymerized resin. These materials present effective low-power resistive heating, which can be potentially useful for deicing and anti-icing devices. During the optimization of UV-3D manufacturing printing process, it was confirmed that the coating thickness strongly depends on the nature and content of graphitic nanofillers. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) strongly inhibit the photopolymerization because of the UV light dispersion, which competes with the light absorption of the photoinitiator, decreasing the coating thickness. Thermo-mechanical behavior of the doped coatings has been analyzed together with their efficiency as de-icing materials. The highest self-heating achieved by Joule's effect was measured for the coating doped with the lower studied content of CNTs, close to electrical percolation. This is explained by its high-electrical conductivity and the higher contribution of tunneling effect regard to the electrical conduction by direct contact.