Nanosensor for composites

2023: Product Announcement

Scientists from Skoltech have developed and patented a method for monitoring the process of manufacturing products from thermosetting polymers. These materials make a significant part of the parts of aircraft, ships, blades of windmills and many components of high-class cars and sports equipment. They last a long time - sometimes for several days - bake in huge stoves, and the new monitoring method allows you to track the moment when this energy-consuming process can be completed. Thus, electricity and time are saved, and the previously vacated furnace can be used in other tasks, the developers explain at the end of June 2023.

Researchers call their invention an embedded nanosensor, but the form of implementation depends on the necessary accuracy and budget. The most advanced version is a complex nanostructure, which is made by deposition from the gas phase and is integrated into the baked part. Depending on the manufacturer's request and the peculiarities of the product, one such sensor or many at once can be used. The simplest option is one of the many substances that conduct electric current that can serve as additives to the polymer: metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, graphene and many others. Such a substance does not have to be nanostructured or nanoscale - for example, the researchers conducted a successful experiment with electrolytic copper powder.

Skoltech scientists patent sensor for accelerated composite production

A kind of bonus is that our embedded nanostructures not only do not harm the mechanical properties of the product, but even slightly improve them, "commented one of the patent holders, Skoltech graduate student Biltu Mahato. - Our method is especially relevant for large parts that are baked for a long time in huge ovens and autoclaves. A striking example is the components of ships and especially aircraft, in which the share of parts from thermosetting polymers reaches 30-50%, for example, in the Airbus-A350, Russian MS-21 and Boeing-787. The return on optimizing their production is very high.[1]

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