‘TECNALIA has a pilot plant in San Sebastian (Basque Country) with a production capacity of 15 m2 a week’
The three entities have signed a collaboration agreement to analyse the applicability and resistance of buckypaper
The integration of buckypaper into composite materials means producing new materials that are lighter, more flexible and stronger, as well as providing them with extraordinary properties, reducing their weight to one tenth of the weight of steel and obtaining a force 500 times greater. The development of new materials is one of the paths to more sustainable designs. One of the purposes of these investigations and their implementation is the reduction of CO2 emission.
Buckypaper: conductivity and savings
Buckypaper is made of continuous films similar to a black film, formed by carbon nanotubes. By incorporating only one sheet we increase the electrical conductivity of a composite panel by 20 times and improve its mechanical properties by 60 %.
Buckypaperis applied in sectors such astransport, energy, health care and water treatment. It is used as a heating element in bus panels as an electrode in batteries , and for water treatment and filtration. They are also used to reduce weight in composite structures; when incorporated in aircraft structures, fuel economy is achieved.
Collaboration agreement between INTA, University of Castilla-La Mancha and TECNALIA
TECNALIA has a pilot plant in San Sebastian (Basque Country) with a production capacity of 15 m2 a week. New methods are being developed to increase it to 50 m2 per weeks for implementation in industrial processes.
INTA is currently working on the development of monitoring technologies in these types of materials for low strain load states. They use fiber optic sensors (FBGS) to do this .
In this line of research, the UCLM Continuous Media Mechanics, Structure and Material Engineering (COMES) Group conducts the study and experimental analysis of these sensors in the face of multiaxial load states.
The collaboration agreement signed by these three entities will allow comparison of the results obtained in the studies carried out independently and thus cover the whole range of deformations.
