High sensitivity and versatility fiber sensors based on carbon nanomaterials for in situ monitoring of composites manufacturing

Sensor technology based on carbon nanomaterials (CNM) provides a variety of promising strategies for implementing the self-sensing and diagnostic functionalities of next-generation layered composites. Compared to the study of excess composite structure deformation and cracking, the technology for monitoring the manufacturing stage of composites using CNM is rather limited. This paper systematically investigates carbon nanotubes (CNTs) coated, graphene coated and carbon fiber enabled sensors for monitoring the complete molding process of composites through acquiring the real-time resistance change of sensors. In comparison to graphene-coated and carbon fibers with densely and continuously packed graphitic structures, the CNT coated fiber sensor with the entangled and loosely packed porous network shows far superior performance for sensing different processing stages of composites, including resin infiltration, gelation and curing.