Non-destructive evaluation technique for assessing nanoparticle dispersion in composite materials

Title : Non-destructive evaluation technique for assessing nanoparticle dispersion in composite materials

Abstract:

A non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique capable of testing the dispersion of nanoparticles in a nanocomposite would be of great use to the manufacturing industry in verifying the quality of manufactured products and ensuring compliance with their specifications. At present there are very few NDE techniques in the literature capable of evaluating the level of dispersion of nanoparticles in the entire nanocomposite. The non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique recently presented for testing the dispersion of nanoparticles in a nanocomposite has undergone some improvements that have allowed the minimum size of detectable nanoparticle aggregates to be reduced. The NDE technique is based on pulsed thermography (PT) in transmission mode. The proposed technique was used for the evaluation of the degree of dispersion of carbon nanotubes and silver particles in a polymer-based nanocomposite with a very low concentration of nanofillers (less than 0.05% by weight), produced with an innovative technique of manufacturing. The ampligrams and phasograms obtained with the presented technique clearly showed the nanoparticle aggregates. Therefore, the new NDE approach can be applied to verify that the expected dispersion levels are respected in the production process.

Audience Take Away Notes: 

• Participants will be introduced to an innovative non-destructive evaluation technique for assessing      nanoparticle dispersion in composite materials
• People from industry may be very interested in a non-destructive evaluation method capable of ensuring product quality and compliance with specifications
• This research may be useful to other faculty to expand their research or teaching on nondestructive evaluation of nano composites
• This NDE technique could offer a practical solution to address the challenge of testing the production of components made of nanocomposites, mitigating issues related to poor nanoparticle dispersion
• The non-destructive evaluation method presented here enhances design accuracy by ensuring adherence to strict requirements, given that nanoparticle dispersion can be readily tested

Biography:

Antonio Pantano is full professor at the Engineering Department of the University of Palermo (Italy). He earned is M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2002) in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan State University. From 2002 to 2004 he was Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on carbon nanotube enabled materials. In 2004 he moved to the Department of Mechanics, University of Palermo, where he was professor “Rientro dei Cervelli”, a position for outstanding scientist. From 2007 he is professor, first associate and later full, at the University of Palermo. He has published 9 books and more than 100 research articles.