Funding Organization: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Fundamental Research)  
Region: Spain
Project Period: 2013 – 2016
Partners: Department of Material Science of the Technical University of Madrid (Project Coordinator), AMADE Group (Analysis and Advanced Materials for Structural Design) belonging the University of Girona and IMDEA Materials Institute
Principal Investigator: Dr. Juan José Vilatela (juanjose.vilatela@imdea.org)

Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP’s) have excellent strength and stiffness to weight ratio required for lightweight driven structural applications such as aircraft, aerospace, etc. The extension of the use of FRP’s can help to solve present challenges associated to the transport industry such as a significant reduction of travelling and maintenance costs, the carbon footprint by fuel consumptions and the COx and NOx emissions. However, several open questions and issues should be solved mandatorily in the following years in order to consolidate and expand the actual maturity level to other industries, such as the poor damage tolerance and through-the-thickness properties or the low thermal/electrical properties. The aim of this coordinated national project is to design new composite materials laminates by the synergistic combination of smart non-conventional configurations and the use of advanced nanofillers such as graphene nano-platelets and carbon nanotubes. Additionally, new non-destructive evaluation techniques NDE based on thermography will take advantage of the enhancement of thermal/electrical conductivity through the inclusion of nanofillers and will be used for sensing capabilities for damage inspections.

IMDEA Materials will lead the subproject related with the development of new composite articles by means of the inclusion of advanced nanofillers for the improvement of thermal, electrical and sensing capabilities.