Recently, polymeric nanofiber veils have gained lot of interest for various industrial and research applications. Embedding polymeric veils has proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent delamination caused by the poor out-of-plane properties of composite laminates. The polymeric veils are introduced between plies of a composite laminate, and their targeted effects on delamination initiation and propagation have been widely studied. This paper presents an overview of the application of nanofiber polymeric veils as toughening interleaves in fiber-reinforced composite laminates. It presents a systematic comparative analysis and summary of attainable fracture toughness improvements based on electrospun veil materials. Both Mode I and Mode II tests are covered. Various popular veil materials and their modifications are considered. The toughening mechanisms introduced by polymeric veils are identified, listed, and analyzed. The numerical modeling of failure in Mode I and Mode II delamination is also discussed. This analytical review can be used as guidance for veil material selection, for estimation of the achievable toughening effect, for understanding the toughening mechanism introduced by veils, and for the numerical modeling of delamination.

The problem of icing for surfaces of engineering structures requires attention more and more every year. Active industrialization in permafrost zones is currently underway; marine transport in Arctic areas targets new goals; the requirements for aerodynamically critical surfaces of wind generators and aerospace products, serving at low temperatures, are increasing; and fiber-reinforced polymer composites find wide applicability in these structural applications demanding the problem of anti/de-icing to be addressed. The traditional manufacturing approaches are superimposed with the new technologies, such as 3D printers and robotics for laying heat wires or cheap and high-performance Thermal Sprayed methods for metallic cover manufacturing. Another next step in developing heaters for polymer structures is nano and micro additives to create electrically conductive heating networks within. In our study, we review and comparatively analyze the modern technologies of structure heating, based on resistive heating composites.

As technology advances toward ongoing circuit miniaturization and device size reduction followed by improved power density, heat dissipation is becoming a key challenge for electronic equipment. Heat accumulation can be prevented if the heat from electrical equipment is efficiently exported, ensuring a device’s lifespan and dependability and preventing otherwise possible mishaps or even explosions. Hence, thermal management applications, which include altering the role of aerogels from thermally insulative to thermally conductive, have recently been a hot topic for 3D-aerogel-based thermal interface materials. To completely comprehend three-dimensional (3D) networks, we categorized and comparatively analyzed aerogels based on carbon nanomaterials, namely fibers, nanotubes, graphene, and graphene oxide, which have capabilities that may be fused with boron nitride and impregnated for better thermal performance and mechanical stability by polymers, including epoxy, cellulose, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). An alternative route is presented in the comparative analysis by carbonized cellulose. As a result, the development of structurally robust and stiff thermally conductive aerogels for electronic packaging has been predicted to increase polymer thermal management capabilities. The latest trends include the self-organization of an anisotropic structure on several hierarchical levels within a 3D framework. In this study, we highlight and analyze the recent advances in 3D-structured thermally conductive aerogels, their potential impact on the next generation of electronic components based on advanced nanocomposites, and their future prospects.

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/aligned boron nitride (BN) aerogel framework nanocomposites with high performance were fabricated by a facile strategy. The boron nitride powder was initially hydrolyzed and dispersed with a chemically crosslinked plasticizer, diethyl glycol (DEG), in the PVA polymer system. The boron nitride and DEG/PVA suspensions were then mixed well with different stoichiometric ratios to attain BN/PVA nanocomposites. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that BN platelets were well dispersed and successfully aligned/oriented in one direction in the PVA matrix by using a vacuum-assisted filtration technique. The formed BN/PVA aerogel cake composite showed excellent in-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivities of 0.76 W/mK and 0.61 W/mK with a ratio of BN/PVA of (2:1) in comparison with 0.15 W/mK for the pure PVA matrix. These high thermal conductivities of BN aerogel could be attributed to the unidirectional orientation of boron nitride nanoplatelets with the post-two days vacuum drying of the specimens at elevated temperatures. This aerogel composite is unique of its kind and displayed such high thermal conductivity of the BN/PVA framework without impregnation by any external polymer. Moreover, the composites also presented good wettability results with water and displayed high electrical resistivity of ~10¹⁴ Ω cm. These nanocomposites thus, with such exceptional characteristics, have a wide range of potential uses in packaging and electronics for thermal management applications.

The simple scaling of silicon transistors no longer ensures the advantages of high energy efficiency, driving research into nanotechnologies beyond silicon. Specifically, digital circuits based on carbon nanotube (CNT) field-effect transistors promise significant advantages in energy efficiency. However, the inability to perfectly control internal nanoscale defects and the variability of carbon nanotubes hinder the realization of very large-scale integrated systems. In this study, we investigated a novel method for fabricating transistors based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using epoxy mixtures, obtained the electrical properties of the transistors, and compared their microstructure and composition via the scanning electron microscopy. The carrier mobility on epoxy-based transistors was 28.87 cm²/V∙s, and the transistor switching frequency was 2.2 MHz. The samples exhibited electrical and physical stability over an extended period of time. The use of carbon nanotubes in epoxy resin as a conducting layer for transistors opens significant prospects in the field of electronics. The CNT-epoxy mixture technology allows for more flexible and rapid fabrication of thin-film transistors compared to classical methods. However, it is not appropriate to speak of a complete replacement; in this study, we present an alternative method for producing thin-film transistors, which may be of interest for specific purposes.

This research examines the growth mechanisms of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube arrays (VACNTs). The synthesis of VACNTs involved the utilization of an iron catalyst deposited onto a substrate surface. Silicon substrates were coated with alumina and iron by magnetron sputtering technique. Through the application of SEM, EDX, AFM, TEM, and ellipsometry techniques, a thorough parametric investigation was conducted to elucidate the operational principles of the catalyst and its practical feasibility. Results underscore a direct relationship between the catalyst's thickness and the characteristics of the resulting VACNTs. Shown that the thickness of thin iron catalyst films of 2-3 nm allowed obtaining VACNTs with the best ID/IG bonds ratio according to Raman spectra.