Rapid Resistive Heating in Graphene/Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Films for De-icing Applications

Paper-like hybrid films based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as favorable materials for electromagnetic interference shielding, energy storage, water treatment, and other contemporary high-performance applications due to their unique combination of excellent physical properties, multifunctional capabilities, and ease of fabrication. The present work reports the development, mechanical, electrical, and thermal characterization of multiwalled CNTs-based paper-like networks supporting a wide variety of two-dimensional graphene related materials (2D GRMs), in the absence of a matrix, for rapid de-icing applications. A multitude of hybrid CNT/GRM papers were produced, using graphene oxide (GO), chemically reduced GO, thermally reduced GO, and graphene nanoplatelets at weight fractions ranging from 0 up to 100 wt %. The mechanical response of the papers under uniaxial tension revealed that their toughness was dependent on both the 2D GRM type and nanotube modification method, while the materials exhibited a favorable combination of multifunctional behavior and mechanical robustness. The latter was evidenced by high values of Young's modulus of up to 13 GPa, an ultimate strength of up to 120 MPa, and a fracture energy of up to 1.84 MJ/m3. High values of electrical conductivity of up to ca. 12,500 S/m were coupled with dramatically fast heating responses to temperatures above 300 degrees C due to the Joule heating effect, which reached unprecedented rates of 355 degrees C/s and brought forward an impressive potential of the materials for electrothermal applications. In particular, the observed unique combination of low power draw, up to 16 W, high heating power densities of ca. 40,000 W/m2, and small mass renders the films ideal candidates for de-icing applications with a negligible weight burden on critical surfaces.