RF heating of carbon nanotubes enables local welding and increased strength between 3D-printed thermoplastic layers.

Here, we give the first-ever report of radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic heating of polymer nanocomposite materials via direct-contact and capacitively coupled electric field applicators. Notably, RF heating allows nanocomposite materials to be resistively heated with electric fields. We highlight our novel RF heating technique for multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) thermoplastic composites and measure their broadband dielectric properties. We also demonstrate three different electric field applicator configurations and discuss their practical use in an industrial setting. We demonstrate the use of RF heating to cure an automotive-grade epoxy loaded with MWCNTs. Our results show that lap shear joints cured faster with the RF method compared with control samples cured in an oven because of the heat-transfer advantages of directly heating the epoxy composite. Finally, we implement our RF curing technique to assemble an automotive structure by locally curing an epoxy adhesive applied to a truck chassis.

In this report, we investigate the rapid heating ability of laser-induced graphene (LIG) in response to radio frequency (RF) fields. Graphitic structures were produced from various industrially prevalent thermoplastics via laser irradiation of the polymer surface. We find that RF responsive, graphitic structures may be produced from Kapton, polyether imide (PEI), polyether sulfone (PESU), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and polycarbonate (PC) using a conventional laser cutting machine. The graphitic structures are also electrically conductive in addition to being RF responsive. Exposure of LIG to RF fields resulted in the rapid heating of LIG with remarkable heating rates up to 126 °C/s. Finite-element simulations for these systems show similar heating trends. This heating response may be used in advanced manufacturing as a means to rapidly weld polymer–polymer interfaces, as will be demonstrated in this report. Our technique uses RF fields to induce localized heating in contrast to uniform bulk heating from external sources such as ovens or furnaces. The methods detailed in this paper provide a polymer processing pathway that may be used to generate RF responsive filler in situ. Finally, we aim to show that LIG–polymer composites may function in an industrial setting, with particular application to additive manufacturing and functional coatings.

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A Landau-de Gennes formulation was implemented in dynamic finite element simulations to compare with postshear relaxation experiments that were conducted on cholesteric cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) dispersions. Our study focused on the microstructural reassembly of CNCs in lyotropic dispersions as parameters such as chiral strength and gap confinement were varied. Our simulation results show that homeotropic and/or more complicated three-dimensional helical configurations are possible, depending on the choice of these parameters. We also observed how dynamic banding patterns develop into the hierarchical microstructures that are characterized by an equilibrium pitch length in both the experiments and simulations. This work has immediate relevance for cellulose nanocrystal dispersion processing and provides new insight into fluid phase ordering for tailorable optical properties.