Hybrid composite laminates with nanofillers are high performance materials for thermal and structural applications. In this work, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were non-covalently modified by treating them with 1 wt% or 5 wt% of ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride. The treated MWCNT were dispersed in epoxy resin (weight content: 0.2–2 wt% or 1 to 3 wt%, respectively) and used to obtain hybrid composite laminates based on carbon fibers (CF) molded by hand layup and vacuum bagging techniques. The hybrid composite laminate containing 1 wt% of MWCNT modified with 1 wt% of IL showed the best mechanical and thermomechanical properties, including an increase of 210% and 151% in flexural strength and modulus, and an increase of 101%, 116% and 29.3% in storage modulus, loss modulus and damping, respectively. Scanning and transmission electron micrographs showed the enhanced MWCNT dispersion and network at low IL content, justifying its improved mechanical properties. The application of a low amount of IL dispersant was found a promising approach to prepare MWCNT/CF/epoxy composites with enhanced properties.

Nanocomposite laminates containing carbon fibers, epoxy, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes were fabricated using a vacuum bag process. Ecofriendly ionic liquid (5 wt%)-treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (pristine and nickel-coated) were added to the epoxy independently, in amounts ranging from 1 wt% to 3 wt%, in order to tailor the mechanical, electrical, and thermal performance of manufactured carbon fiber epoxy composite laminates. These nanocomposite laminates were later characterized through flexural testing, dynamic mechanical analysis, impedance spectroscopy, thermal conductivity tests, and FTIR spectroscopy to evaluate their suitability for battery pack applications. The findings showed that both types of multiwalled carbon nanotubes exhibited multifaceted effects on the properties of bulk hybrid carbon fiber epoxy nanocomposite laminates. For instance, the flexural strength of the composites containing 3.0 wt% of ionic liquid-treated pristine multiwalled carbon nanotubes reached 802.8 MPa, the flexural modulus was 88.21 GPa, and the storage modulus was 18.2 GPa, while the loss modulus peaked at 1.76 GPa. The thermal conductivity of the composites ranged from 0.38869 W/(m · K) to 0.69772 W/(m · K), and the electrical resistance decreased significantly with the addition of MWCNTs, reaching a minimum of 29.89 Ω for CFRPIP-1.5 wt%. The structural performance of hybrid nanocomposites containing ionic liquid-treated pristine multiwalled carbon nanotubes was higher than that of the hybrid nanocomposite of ionic liquid-treated Ni-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes, although the latter was found to possess better functional performance.

Reed sensors play an important role in improving the safety, reliability, and efficiency of modern electric vehicles. Our study evaluates their performance by measuring the switching distance under five different configurations of a cylindrical magnet using a 3D-printed test fixture. Statistical analysis revealed that the right-shift-upward configuration yielded the best performance, significantly reducing the release distance. Building on this, a prototype housing was developed using Selective Laser Sintering with polybutylene terephthalate, and a stainless-steel spring was incorporated to enhance sensitivity and reliability. The spring integration reduced the activation distance to 2.3 mm, which is an improvement of up to 60%, and it also significantly improved the consistency of the results. These outcomes demonstrate a practical method for manufacturing more reliable reed sensors for automotive sensing technology.