Carbon nanotubes in carbon/epoxy multiscale textile preform composites: A review

Carbon nanotube integrated textile structural composites are one of the demanded materials especially for space/aerospace and defense industries in the 21st century due to their better damage tolerance properties compared to the metal and ceramics. This review paper exclusively performed on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) added carbon fiber/epoxy multiscale composites, including recent innovative methods of integrating CNTs to carbon filaments using the direct method such as growing on fiber, chemical grafting, and nanostitching or indirect methods such as mixing with matrix and application via lay-up and dip coating. In addition, various composite fabrication techniques, including vacuum bag molding, resin transfer molding, and resin film infusion molding techniques were discussed. Critical thermo-mechanical and electrical properties considering numerous micromechanics based composite modeling and computational analysis were explained. The review concludes that CNTs added carbon fiber/epoxy multiscale composites possess considerable potential in the use of advanced nanocomposites applications.