Polymer Nanocomposites for Aerospace Applications: Properties

Polymer nanocomposites may provide significantly increased modulus, gas barrier, thermal performance, atomic oxygen resistance, resistance to small molecule permeation and improved ablative performance when compared to typical traditional carbon‐fiber‐reinforced polymeric composites. This presentation gives a review on both theoretical and experimental investigations extracting valuable fundamental elements including field emission, thermal stability, and electrical, optical and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites for aerospace applicability. A wide variety of superior features qualifies polymer nanocomposites over the conventional carbon‐fiber reinforced polymers for aerospace applications: increased modulus (see Figure for a demonstration of nanotube fiber flexibility), thermal and ablative performance, resistance to damage by atomic oxygen, to name just a few. In this review, both theoretical and experimental research on key properties (e.g., electrical, optical and mechanical) of the materials are discussed.