Manufacturing method of the heat-storable carbon fiber reinforced plastics with applying trans-1,4-polybutadiene by using cellulose nanofibers and electrodeposition solution

•This work presents an environmentally sustainable manufacturing method to fabricate the heat-storable CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforce plastics) that combines strength and lightweight for mobile electric devices.•A solid-solid phase change material (PCM) of trans-1,4-polybutadiene (TPBD), which was a semi-crystalline polymer that accumulates heat by crystal structure transition in the solid phase, was efficiently incorporated with applying an aqueous electrodeposition solution. For the thermal management of electric devices, the application of phase change materials (PCMs) such as paraffin has been studied. However, as long as the PCM changes to liquid phase, a sealed structure is required, which is a constraint for weight reduction. Therefore, the authors have focused on trans-1,4-polybutadiene (TPBD), a semi-crystalline polymer that accumulates heat by crystal structure transition at 50~80 °C in the solid phase. However, the strength of TPBD is insufficient and thermal conductivity is not enough to dissipate the heat. In this study, a method to homogeneously apply TPBD to the surface of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) was developed using cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and aqueous electrodeposition solution containing a polymer with epoxy group. The heat-storable CFRP was obtained, the maximum exoergic and endoergic heats of 30 J/g were confirmed, and its tensile strength was approximately 61% of CFRP without TPBD/CNF.