Sustainable Carbon Fibres and Piezoelectric Sensors for Possible Integration in Future Biomedical Devices
摘要
Carbon fibres are strategic materials for several high values applications such as aerospace, automotive, wind turbine, sports gears, and biomedical. Nowadays, 95% of commercial carbon fibres used in these composites are made from polyacrylonitrile which notoriously impacts energy consumption, climate change, and cost. Lignin utilisation as a precursor material aims to address the challenge of reducing environmental impact while increasing sustainability and reducing the economic cost of carbon fibres allowing subsequent wider integration while maintaining mechanical performance. Despite their exceptional reinforcement properties, carbon fibre reinforced polymers exhibit poor ductility causing sudden failure without any prediction possibilities. Embedded damage detection membrane may result in improved safety and reliability while reducing costly maintenance operations. Piezoelectric materials are highly regarded for their capacity to produce electric voltage when exposed to mechanical stress, enabling failure detection in case of excessive stress to the carbon fibre structure. Nanofiber membranes of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) produced via an electrospinning process offer a solution when used as in situ sensors for integrated damage detection in carbon fibre-reinforced polymers.