Temperature, atomic oxygen and outgassing effects on dielectric parameters and electrical properties of nanostructured composite carbon-based materials

This work deals with the dielectric properties of carbon-based nanostructured polymeric composite materials. A commercial epoxy matrix is currently filled with multi-walled carbon nanotubes in different percentages, and final composite material characterized in terms of microwave behavior by means of the waveguide method. By following the guidelines of previous studies, the attention is focused on the changes induced by hard environmental conditions (high temperature in ultra-high vacuum system) on the above mentioned properties. The results obtained in this preliminary research have outlined the intriguing properties of carbon nanostructures, establishing themselves as very promising materials for the future aerospace composite technology. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.