Structural capacitor materials made from carbon fibre epoxy composites

In this paper, an approach towards realising novel multifunctional polymer composites is presented. A series of structural capacitor materials made from carbon fibre reinforced polymers have been developed, manufactured and tested. The structural capacitor materials were made from carbon fibre epoxy pre-preg woven laminae separated by a paper or polymer film dielectric separator. The structural capacitor multifunctional performance was characterised measuring capacitance, dielectric strength and interlaminar shear strength. The developed structural CFRP capacitor designs employing polymer film dielectrics (PA, PC and PET) offer remarkable multifunctional potential.