Through this project AmaDema aims to develop and produce of a novel, highly conductive in the z-axis carbon fibre (CF) textile material, by introducing an electrically conductive phase withing the CFRP structure.
e-NanoPrint is funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of the Republic of Cyprus under the “ENTERPIRSES” Grant, Call 0618, Program “RESEARCH IN ENTERPRISES” of RESTART 2016-2020. The project was launched in May 15th, 2019 and is expected to be completed by April 30th, 2021.
Although carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites present sufficient in-plane electrical conductivity levels comparable to metals, their electrical conductivity in z-axis (through thickness) is non-existent. There are several efforts within the international literature to increase through thickness conductivity, however without dramatic improvements in the multilayer composite level. Due to the lack of this particular property, CFRP composites are eliminated from a variety of applications that through thickness electrical conductivity is desired, such as radio frequency (RF) applications, electronic boxes and avionics casing, material damage sensing, sensitive robotics parts, space RF applications, military applications, in-service structural evaluation and other.
Through this project AmaDema aims to develop and produce of a novel, highly conductive in the z-axis carbon fibre (CF) textile material, by introducing an electrically conductive phase withing the CFRP structure.
To achieve the desired increase in through thickness electrical conductivity, AmaDema is planning to utilise a proprietary method to introduce conductive polymers that can be easily scaled up
The electrically conductive polymers excessively enhance textile and eventually CF composite through thickness electrical conductivity. e-NanoPrint presents the industrial development of an innovative textile-material, with revolutionary through thickness electrical conductivity, in levels similar to in-plane carbon fabric electrical conductivity.
e-NanoPrint is coordinated by AmaDema in partnership with the Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics of Cyprus University of Technology (CUT).
May: Project Launch
May: Initiation of Dissemination Strategy and Implementation
May: Kick off Meeting at AmaDema
June: Initiation of Technology Mapping and Market Analysis
July: Consortium Meeting 2 at AmaDema
July: Mechanical Design of Screen Printing Apparatus
Aug: Tailor-made Screen Printing Apparatus Setup
2020
May: Design, assembly, development, and commissioning of small-scale screen-printing machine.
Jun: (Online) oral presentation and attendance of 19th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM19), June 22-26, 2020, Nantes, France. The conference was held online due to Covid-19.
Jul: Polymer Nanocomposite inks development.
2021
Feb: Printing process optimisation completed.
Apr: Successful printing of eNanoPrint textiles.
Jun: Successful mechanical and electrical characterization of eNanoPrint composites.
Jun: (Online) oral presentation and attendance of International Conference on Advanced Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites (ICANPN 2021), June 21-22, 2020, Vienna, Austria. The conference was held online due to Covid-19.
Jul: Design of industrial scale screen printing machine apparatus.
Sep: Submission of technical deliverables, final scientific and financial reports.
Dec: Scientific evaluation was successfully completed with “Category B - Very Good”.