Silver-based conductive coatings as lightning strike protection for composite aircraft

Lightning strike protection of composite structures is an increasingly studied subject in the aerospace industry due to the need for finding novel protection solutions for low conductive composites. This work presents two silver-based lightning protective conductive coatings for potential replacement of expanded copper foil (ECF) as lightning strike protection (LSP). The first solution consists of an electroless method to produce silver-coated carbon fibres (SCCF). The SCCF are integrated as a sacrificial ply on a carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) panel with four different areal densities, using an epoxy-based primer or a PEDOT:PSS conductive ink as binder. The second solution is a silver-based commercial product consisting of a two-part epoxy with silver flakes, which acts as a sprayable thin coating beneath the paint layer.