Understanding the Lightning Impulse Current Impact on CFRP Epoxy Nanocomposite by Adopting Optical Emission Spectroscopy

The present study aims to understand the conductive filler (viz., multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/ graphene nanoparticle (GNP)/MXene)-loaded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) epoxy composite for its electrical conductivity property and lightning strike damage resistance using optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) results clearly indicate that MXene fillers are uniformly dispersed than the MWCNT and GNP. It was found that the MXene-loaded samples exhibited superior resistance to lightning strike damage compared to the composites loaded with MWCNT and GNP nanofiller. The optical emission spectrum of plasma generated during lightning discharge has been used to assess the lightning damage behavior, and it is confirmed that the MXene sample exhibits a lower carbon peak intensity in the OES, indicating a minimal carbonization process caused by lightning discharge. In addition to that, the calculated electron density in the discharge plasma clearly showed a direct correlation with electrical conductivity and the MXene sample has higher electron density. It is concluded that the MXene-loaded CFRP epoxy composite has better filler dispersion and high electrical conductivity with enhanced lightning strike damage resistance.