Shannon O'Connor Sahil Ghate Riley Flanagan Mounisha Ganesan Christopher Rivera John Veracka
Embry Riddle
The focus of the research was design, economically building, and testing of an electrospray platform which will be employed to deposit uniform coatings of carbon nanomaterials to large surfaces. Elect..
The focus of the research was design, economically building, and testing of an electrospray platform which will be employed to deposit uniform coatings of carbon nanomaterials to large surfaces. Electrospray, also known as electrohydrodynamic spray or e-spray, is a liquid atomization technique that can generate fine droplets to produce coatings with a high degree of uniformity. The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene dispersions in water are particularly attractive due to their bulk processing, ease of storage, freedom for tuning the concentration, and for their potential applications in biology and aerospace. The substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Kapton tape, and non-metallic surfaces have been utilized for coating. The characterization methods include measurement of the roughness, the toughness of the films, scanning electron microscope for imaging, resistance, and transmittance of the films (for PET and Kapton). This platform will be utilized for coating large area of non-conductive surfaces which will carry a charge across the structure to act as a de-icing element for aircraft and spacecraft structures.