High‐efficient multifunctional self‐heating nanocomposite‐based MWCNTs for energy applications

Abstract

Self-heating of nanocomposite materials based on the joule heating effect is suitable for numerous engineering applications. In this study, a high-efficiency self-heating nanocomposite, using high conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-based phenolic resin, was fabricated with a hot press method. The microstructure and the thermal stability of self-heating nanocomposite were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, and thermogravimetric tests. Electromechanical and thermal performance tests were conducted to investigate their potential as a self-heating application. Results showed that the compressive strength, modulus, and the piezo-resistive behaviour were higher after adding MWCNTs to the phenolic resin, indicating better load transfer and self-damage sensing as well. Moreover, at 4.0 wt% of MWCNTs concentration, the electrical conductivity of a self-heating nanocomposite showed a higher value of 13.26 S/m which was also found to be proportionally increased with the thickness of the samples, it was ≈25.5 and ≈12.8 S/m for 10 and 3 mm, respectively. In addition, a steady-state temperature of ≈110°C could be reached at low applied volts (8 V) as well as its heating performance was significantly dependent on the input power and the thickness of the sample. This is also confirmed by statistical results between the sample with thicknesses of 3 and 10 mm in terms of power consumption with P value ≈.0001. Furthermore, the influence of Joule heating was estimated analytically based on the one-dimensional heat transfer equation in companying with other previous models. The estimated distributed temperatures values were in good agreement with the experimental results. The self-heating nanocomposite described in this study has the potential to be used in various industrial applications and a wide range of sectors due to its ability to self-damage sensing, easy fabrication, and high heating efficiency at low power consumption.