Study of electrical properties of graphene /epoxy resin composites induced by external electric field

Composite materials have gradually replaced metal materials with the continuous development of aerospace technology. However, compared with traditional metal materials, the electrical conductivity of composite materials is low. This topic aims to improve the electrical conductivity and lightning resistance of resin-based composite materials so that they can be better applied in the aerospace field. Graphene is used as a conductive filler to add to epoxy resin, and an external electric field is applied. The excellent conductivity of graphene is utilized to form a conductive path under the induction of an electric field to improve the conductivity of composite materials. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that graphene aggregated seriously and distributed unevenly in epoxy resin without an electric field. When a 60 V electric field was applied, the graphene was oriented and more evenly distributed, with only a few agglomerations. According to the conductivity test results, the conductivity of the composites prepared with graphene content of 3 wt%, applied 60 V voltage and energized for 10 min is 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than that of the composites without electric field used, indicating that the electric field induction method can effectively improve the conductivity of the composites.