High Throughput Manufacturing of Carbide Nanowire-Carbon Microfiber Hybrid Structures and Polymer Composites from Cotton Textiles

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This grant provides funding for synthesizing large quantities of radially-aligned high-strength carbide nanowires using cotton textiles as both the template and carbon source. Nanowires are of great interest for use as reinforcements in polymer matrix composites but are not in widespread use today due to manufacturing challenges. The primary goal of this work is to solve the two most critical limitations in nanocomposite manufacturing, i.e., poor dispersion of the reinforcements and low throughput. The novelty of the approach is the controlled dispersion of the nanowires "by design" as the result of growing the nanowires on a substrate that is both the template and carbon source. This research program will study both the mechanisms of formation for the nanowires on the cotton substrate as well as study the reinforcing mechanisms of the carbide nanowire-carbon microfiber hybrid structures in composite structures. High throughput manufacturing of laminated polymer nanocomposites will be explored through specially designed spin casting and sheet molding processes. If successful, the results of this research will contribute to a better understanding of the manufacturing-structure-property-function of carbide nanowire-carbon microfiber hybrid structures and their reinforced polymer nanocomposites. This research has the potential to change the conventional concepts for nano-reinforcement dispersion and to significantly impact existing nanomaterials manufacturing technologies. The research advances made through this project will generate new knowledge that will be introduced to undergraduate and graduate students through existing courses and the research activities will be used as an educational platform for students at all levels to learn about materials processing and manufacturing.