Materials Research Express

PAPER

Improving the electrical conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy

composite using reduced graphene oxide
To cite this article: Belal Alemour et al 2019 Mater. Res. Express 6 065607

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 Mater. Res. Express 6 (2019) 065607 https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab0ce5

PAPER

Improving the electrical conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy

RECEIVED
2 January 2019
composite using reduced graphene oxide
REVISED
11 February 2019
ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION
Belal Alemour1,5 , H N Lim2, M H Yaacob3, Omar Badran4 and Mohd Roshdi Hassan1,5
5 March 2019 1
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2
PUBLISHED Department of Chemistry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
3
20 March 2019 Department of Computer & Communication systems, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Al-Balqa Applied University, FET, Amman, Jordan
5
Authors to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: belalemour@hotmail.com and roshdi_hassan@upm.edu.my

Keywords: electrical conductivity, reduced graphene oxide, graphene, composite material, carbon fiber

Abstract
In this research a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is used to coat the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy
composite (CFRE) to improve and enhance its electrical conductivity that can be used in the aviation
applications, because CFRE has poor electrical conductivity, and cannot withstand high electrical
current coming from lightning strike. The results show that the electrical conductivity of CFRE is
enhanced and increased significantly when it is coated with rGO by about 8015%, where the electrical
conductivity of CFRE is increased from 1.38×103 (S/m) to 1.12×105 (S/m). Also when the content
of rGO increased, the electrical conductivity of CFRE neat will be increased to higher values. The self-
heating of all tested specimens was analyzed by the Joule effect. It is found that the self-heating of
CFRE is enhanced and improved after coating it with rGO, therefore the self- heating of CFRE become
more homogeneous, effective, reaching higher temperatures, than CFRE neat.

1. Introduction

Conductive composites include any composite having high electrical conductivity, conductive composites are
made by adding conductive fillers to the nonconductive matrix using certain method, producing high electrical
conductivity. By controlling the volume fraction of the conductive filler, composites with a nonconductive
matrix can exhibit a wide range of electrical conductivities as needed for various applications [1–3]. The
conductive fillers are usually in the form of powder, flakes, fibers, or layered forms and are mostly carbon-based
material. The carbon-based materials include carbon black (CB), carbon fibers (CF), graphite, carbon nanotubes
(CNTs), and graphene [4–6].
Graphene sheets — one atom thick, two dimensional layers of sp2-bonded carbon — is predicted to have a
range of unusual properties. Graphene has high in-plane values of thermal conductivity and mechanical stiffness
(5,000 W m−1 K−1 and 1,060 GPa, respectively). Its ultimate tensile strength value is about 130 Gpa, which is
considered higher than steel material by 325 times. Graphene is used frequently to form conductive composites,
because it has light weight, forms conductive networks easily, and resist the oxidation [7, 8]. The researchers
conducted transport experiments on graphene and they concluded that at room temperature graphene has high
and magnificent electron mobility [9], therefore, graphene has very high electrical conductivity value, and the
resistivity of graphene is 10−7 Ω cm. Such a resistivity is lower than that of silver and graphene is considered the
material with the lowest room temperature resistivity ever known so far [10, 11]. Therefore, it is possible to
utilize unique graphene properties in some engineering applications by using them in the manufacture of
conductive composite materials [12, 13].
There are many problems facing aircraft in the air, such as lightning strikes. When the lightning strikes the
aircraft, it causes serious damage to the skin of aircraft that needs direct maintenance, which will delay the
aircraft and be out of service for a period of time [14–17]. Therefore, Lightning strike protection systems must
provide a continuous conductive path of low resistance over the entire aircraft exterior, where the current will

© 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd

Mater. Res. Express 6 (2019) 065607 B Alemour et al

travel through the conductive exterior skin and the structures of the aircraft and exit off some other extremity
without any problem [18, 19]. Carbon fiber composites are used extensively in aircraft applications such as
fuselages, leading edges and wing surfaces, but CFRE has poor electrical conductivity, therefore, it is prone to
damage from the lightning strike, and as a result, they need high-cost maintenance. Therefore, there is a need to
improve the electrical conductivity of CFRE, in order to withstand high electrical currents coming from
lightning strikes. Therefore, the aircraft companies are dealing with this issue by using a metal mesh of
aluminum or copper attached to the outer surface of CFRE composite, in order to increase the electrical
conductivity of the aircraft’s structure [16, 20–22]. However, using aluminum in lightning protection systems
has several problems; when aluminum contacts CFRE laminate, galvanic corrosion is occurring. Copper mesh is
therefore used instead of aluminum to avoid galvanic corrosion, but another problem is found, that copper has a
weight higher than aluminum by three times. In addition to that, previous experiments showed that thin metal
mesh can be vaporized by high current lightning strikes [23, 24].
To replace and avoid the disadvantages of metal meshes, the researchers have investigated new conductive
composite material that has high electrical conductivity that can be attached to the aircraft’s structure to protect
them from lightning strike. This conductive composite contain a conductive fillers such as carbon-based
materials like graphene and carbon nanotube. Chunxia et al 2011 prepared a Graphene and carbon fiber
nanopaper for multifunction composite materials to be used in the aviation such as lightning protection system
[25]. Kumar et al 2013 used graphene as replacement materials in fiber-reinforced composites to protect against
lightning strikes [26]. Vishnyakov et al 2014 used a Conductive nanostructured carbon modifier to improve the
electric conductivity of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic laminates to withstand the high currents coming from
lightning strikes [27]. Kruckenberg et al 2015 invented electrically conductive composite reinforced by different
nanofiller such as carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplates, to protect the aircraft from lightning strikes [28].
Imran et al 2016 prepared a conductive composite of Carbon/Epoxy Composites by Graphene, and he found
out that the electrical conductivity is enhanced [29]. Bangwei, et al 2017 fabricated a thin flexible coating made of
pristine graphene was fabricated and applied on the surface of a commercial carbon fiber epoxy prepreg
laminate to protect it against the lightning strike [30]. Kumar et al 2018 prepared the fabrication of highly
conductive graphene thin film (GTF) papers to reduce the possible damage of lightning strikes on composite
structures. The GTF is incorporated into carbon fiber‐reinforced composite panels, the results have shown that
the highest electrical conductivity value measured on GTF papers is approximately (0.18 * 106) S/m, which is
close from the electrical conductivity of copper or jaluminium [31]. Li et al 2018, prepared a spray coating of
carbon nanoparticles used as a simple technique to increase the electrical and thermal surface conductivity of
CFRPs. The using of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) synergistically reduced the
CFRPs surface resistivity by four orders of magnitude (from 2–3 Ω/sq to 3 × 10−4 Ω/sq), and this will open up
the possibilities for the replacement of metallic mesh structures for EMI shielding and LSP [32].
Graphene conductive coatings can also de-ice an aircraft quickly and cheaply. Currently, the task of de-icing
an aircraft is expensive, difficult and takes a long time, where a team of airport staff have to spray the wings of the
plane with a hot liquid, either propylene glycol or ethylene glycol to melt the ice. Therefore the researches are
now developing a conductive composite using graphene to help heat surfaces and simplify ice removal. The
scientists developed a thin coating of graphene nanoribbons in epoxy that is effective at melting ice on the
surfaces—and that means it may be an effective real-time de-icer for aircraft, wind turbines, transmission lines,
and other surfaces exposed to winter weather [33].
The aim of this research is to develop highly electrically conductive carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite
material through the addition of Functionalized graphene oxide (FGNP), which can be used in aviation
applications The development of such a material would result in safer aircraft, weight and cost savings from the
elimination of the expensive metallic meshes as well as eliminating time associated with integrating the meshes
into the structure.

2. Materials

Carbon fabric reinforced 8552-epoxy (HexPly 8552 prepreg), supplied by Hexcel Composites company. The
epoxy matrix is amine and thermoplastic toughened and the carbon fabric is manufactured with T300 fiber.
In this research Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) is used to coat the top surface of carbon fiber reinforced
epoxy composite (CFRE). Reduced graphene oxide is prepared in the laboratory of chemistry department at
faculty of science in Universiti Putra Malaysia, using different processes. Firstly, graphite oxide is obtained by
treating pristine graphite with strong oxidizers. Then, graphite oxide is mixed with water or organic solvents,
then using sonication and stirring for a long time, it can be exfoliated into a few layers of graphene oxide (GO)
sheets. After centrifugation for a certain period of time, the graphene oxide sheets can be reduced to reduced
graphene oxide (rGO) by thermal or chemical method. rGO paste is prepared by mixing a certain percentage of

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Table 1. Types of rGO paste used in the study.

Type of rGO paste Wt% of rGO Solvent medium

rGO-1 80 Water
rGO-2 90 Water

Table 2. The list of specimens used in the research.

NO Sample Notes

1 CFRE neat Without rGO

2 CFRE/rGO-1 A 80% of rGO is used
3 CFRE/rGO-1 B 80% of rGO is used
4 CFRE/rGO-2 A 90% of rGO is used
5 CFRE/rGO-2 B 90% of rGO is used

Figure 1. Procedures of preparation of testing samples: (a) CFRE neat (b) CFRE/rGO1 B and CFRE/rGO2 B (c) CFRE/rGO1 A and
CFRE/rGO2 A.

rGO in the water. Therefore, in this study we have used two types of rGO paste as shown in the table 1, to coat the
top surface of CFRE.

3. Methodology

3.1. Preparation CFRE and CFRE/rGO composites

In this research, five specimens were prepared as described in table 2. CFRE neat is carbon fiber reinforced epoxy
composite without rGO, and this will be the control sample. CFRE/rGO1 A is carbon fiber reinforced epoxy
composite coated with rGO1 paste after curing using hot press molding at temperature of 180 for two hours.
CFRE/rGO1 B is carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite coated with rGO1 paste before curing using hot press
machine. CFRE/rGO2 A is carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite coated with rGO2 paste after curing using
hot press molding at temperature of 180 for two hours. CFRE/rGO2 B is carbon fiber reinforced epoxy
composite coated rGO2 paste before curing using hot press machine.
CFRE neat is fabricated as shown in figure 1(a). Twelve layers of HexPly 8552 prepregs were stacked one after
another to form CFRE laminate, then it is cured using hot press machine at 180 °C for two hours. Specimens
CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 B are fabricated as shown in figure 1(b) where rGO paste is used to coat CFRE
laminate before curing. Finally, specimens CFRE/rGO-1 A, CFRE/rGO-2 A are fabricated as shown in
figure 1(c), where rGO paste is painted at the top surface of CFRE laminate after curing using hot press molding
for two hours at 180 °C.

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3.2. Atomic force microscopy test

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a three-dimensional topographic technique with a high atomic resolution to
measure surface roughness. AFM is a kind of scanning probe microscope, and its near-field technique is based
on the interaction between a sharp tip and the atoms of the sample surface. Therefore, in this test, Atomic Force
Microscopy device is used to find the thickness of rGO coating for the specimens CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2
B, CFRE/rGO1 A, and CFRE/rGO2 A.

3.3. Electrical conductivity test

Four-point probe device is used in this research to find the electrical conductivity value of five specimens. The
specimens are cut into a proper dimensions (1 cm×1 cm×0.2 cm) in order to be used in the device. Four-
point probe device measures the voltage (V) and the current (I), then the electrical resistance (R) of the
specimens is determined from equation (1). Finally, the electrical conductivity (s) can be calculated from the
equation (2).
V
R= (1)
I
RL
s= (2)
A
Where L is the length of specimen, and A is the area of specimen.

3.4. Self-heating test by the joule effect

Heating by the Joule effect depends on both the electrical and thermal conductivities of the composite, which are
strongly influenced by the nanofiller properties. Electrical current induces the Joule heating effect, or self-
heating, into Nano reinforced polymers. This heating can be used for different applications such aircraft de-
icing.
In this research, the effect of self-heating caused by the transportation of electrical current in epoxy
composites is studied. Also the effect of the amount of rGO paste on the self-heating of CFRE is studied. This test
is performed to characterize the Joule effect on the studied specimens (CFRE neat, CFRE/rGO1 A, CFRE/rGO1
B, CFRE/rGO2 A, CFRE/rGO2 B), the test consists of the determination of the temperature reached as a
function of the applied voltage. All specimens are prepared and cut to a certain dimension
(20 mm×20 mm×2 mm) for test, then four copper wires are attached to the top surface of each specimen,
where two wires used for passing the electrical current through the sample, while the other two wires used to
measure the voltage across the sample. Digital Infrared Thermometer (DIT) is used to measure the temperature
of each specimen due to self-heating.

3.5. Morphological characterization

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to obtain topographical information from specimen surface and
surface structures. The scanning electron microscope is an electron microscope that images the sample surface
by scanning it with a high energy beam of electrons. Conventional light microscopes use a series of glass lenses to
bend light waves and create a magnified image while the scanning electron microscope creates the magnified
images by using electrons instead of light waves [38–40]. In this research, scanning electron microscopy was used
to characterize the top surface of three specimens and compare between them, the first specimen is CFRE neat,
to view the surface without rGO coating. The second and is CFRE/rGO2 B to view rGO2 coating before curing
and the third specimen is CFRE/rGO2 A, to view rGO2 coating after curing and see also how rGO2 is distributed
over the top surface of CFRE specimen. Specimens were sputter-coated with gold in order to prevent electrical
charging during the examination and obtain more clear images. An accelerating voltage of 20 kV was used to
collect the SEM images.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Figure 2, includes the results of Atomic Force Microscopy test. The results show the thickness of rGO coating for
all specimens. Figure 2(a) includes the thickness of rGO1 coating on the top surface of specimen CFRE/rGO1 A,
thence it is found to be 3.1 (μm). Figure 2(b) includes the thickness of rGO2 coating on the top surface of
specimen CFRE/rGO2 A, and it is found to be 3.3 (μm). While figure 2(c) includes the thickness of rGO1 coating
on the top surface of specimen CFRE/rGO1 B, and it is found to be 1.6 (μm). Finally, figure 2(d) includes the
thickness of rGO2 coating on the top surface of specimen CFRE/rGO2 B, and it is found to be 1.7 (μm).
Thickness values of all specimens are listed in table 3. Thickness values of rGO coatings in specimens CFRE/

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Figure 2. Thickness of rGO coating obtained by AFM test for all samples. (a) CFRE/rGO1 A (b) CFRE/rGO2 A (c) CFRE/rGO1 B (d)
CFRE/rGO2 B.

Table 3. Thickness of rGO coating for all samples.

The sample Thickness of rGO coating on each sample (μm)

CFRE/rGO-1 A 3.1
CFRE/rGO-1 B 1.6
CFRE/rGO-2 A 3.3
CFRE/rGO-2 B 1.7

rGO1 A, and CFRE/rGO2 A are higher than that for specimens CFRE/rGO1 B, and CFRE/rGO2 B, because
rGO paste in specimens CFRE/rGO1 B and CFRE/rGO2 B is painted to the surface before curing using hot press
molding, therefore the thickness is reduced, while rGO paste in specimens CFRE/rGO1 A and CFRE/rGO2 A is
painted to the surface after compression and curing, therefore the thickness is almost not changed.

4.2. Electrical conductivity

Figure 3 shows the electrical resistance versus temperature for all specimens (CFRE neat, CFRE/rGO A, CFRE/
rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/rGO2 B). It is observed that the electrical resistance of all specimens
increases slightly with increasing temperature from −10 °C to 27 °C, however, this change is very low and
considered to be almost constant. The results show that CFRE/rGO2-A has the lowest electrical resistance of
4.5×10−3 (ohm), while CFRE neat has the highest electrical resistance of 3.6×10−1 (ohm) as shown in
figure 4. It is found that the electrical resistance of CFRE is decreased significantly after coating it with rGO, and
this indicates that the electrical conductivity of CFRE is enhanced.
Figure 5 shows the electrical conductivity (S/m) versus Temperature for all specimens (CFRE neat, CFRE/
rGO1 A, CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/rGO2 B). It is observed that the electrical conductivity of all
specimen decreases slightly with increasing temperature from −10 °C to 27 °C, however, this change is very low
and considered to be almost constant. The results show that CFRE/rGO2 A has the highest electrical
conductivity of 1.12×105 (S/m), while CFRE neat has the lowest electrical conductivity of 1.38×103 (S/m) as
shown in figure 6. It is found that the electrical conductivity of CFRE is increased significantly and enhanced
after coating it with rGO by about 8015%, because the electrical conductivity of rGO is very high. It is observed
also from figure 6 that the value of electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with rGO2 is higher than that if CFRE
coated with rGO1, because rGO content in rGO2 is higher than that in rGO1, therefore, electrical conductivity
of CFRE/rGO2 B is 1.04×105 (S/m) while electrical conductivity for CFRE/rGO1 B is 3.1×104 (S/m), which
is less than CFRE/rGO2 B. It is noted from the results that the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with rGO

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Figure 3. Combined graph of electrical resistance versus temperature of all specimens.

Figure 4. Electrical resistance average values of all specimens.

after curing has higher value, while the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with rGO before curing has lower
value. for example, electrical conductivity of CFRE/rGO2 A is 1.12×105 (S/m) while electrical conductivity
for CFRE/rGO2 B is 1.04×105 (S/m), this is because rGO coating after curing is not compressed and it is more
homogenous, therefore rGO sheets are distributed homogenously over the surface and make more bridges for
the electrons to travel, which will enhance the electrical conductivity.
The electrical conductivity of all specimens in this study are compared with the electrical conductivity of
copper, aluminum. It is noted from this table that the electrical conductivity of CFRE has been improved
significantly after coating it with rGO and reached to 1.12×105 (S/m), but it is still lower than the electrical
conductivity of copper and aluminum. By comparing this study with another studies that used CNT, it is clear
from table 4 that the improvement in the electrical conductivity of CFRE after the addition of rGO is higher than
the rate of improvement after the addition of CNT. Pozegic et al 2016, used CNTs to coat the surface of CFRE to
improve its electrical conductivity, the CNT modified-CFRE show 450% improvement in the electrical
conductivity on the surface and reached to 3×103 (S/m) [35]. Bekyarova et al 2007, used CNT to coat CFRE to
enhance its electrical conductivity, the results shows that the electrical conductivity was improved to 1.3×104
(S/m) [36]. While Leng et al [37] reached a value of 1.3×104 (S/m) by inserting CNT based buckypaper.

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Figure 5. Electrical conductivity versus temperature comparisons of all test specimens.

Figure 6. Electrical conductivity average values comparisons of all test specimens.

Table 4 also shows the comparison of this study with another studies that used GNP. Asmatulu et al 2013,
obtained an electrical conductivity of 5.26×103 (S/m) by coating the carbon fiber surface with GNP [38]. Qin
et al 2015, reported that the incorporation of GNP in CFRE improved the electrical conductivity from 2.5 S m−1
to 6.6 S m−1 by creating a conductive path between carbon fibers [39]. Bilotti et al 2017, modified CFRE using
GNP, and the electrical conductivity increased nearly two orders of magnitude to 0.6 (S/m) [40]. While in
another research for Bilotti et al 2018, a GNP/CNT hybrid was used to coat the surface of CFRE. The electrical
conductivity of CFRE was improved and reached to 3.4×103 (S/m) [41].
It is noticed that the electrical conductivity of CFRE has been improved greatly after coating it with rGO. But
it is found that by increasing the percentage of rGO content, the electrical resistance decreased significantly,
which led to an increase in the value of electrical conductivity of CFRE several times.

4.3. Self-heating test

In this test, the self-heating of all specimens by the Joule effect was analyzed. The results show that the self-
heating of rGO composites (CFRE/rGO1 A, CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/rGO2 B) is more

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Table 4. The comparison of electrical conductivity values of all specimens

with other materials.

Electrical Electrical con-

resistance ductivity
Material (ohm) (S m−1) References

CFRE neat 3.6×10−1 1.38×103 This Study

CFRE/rGO1 A 1.18×10−2 4.36×104 This Study
CFRE/rGO1 B 1.68×10−2 3.1×104 This Study
CFRE/rGO2 A 4.5×10−3 1.12×105 This Study
CFRE/rGO2 B 4.8×10−3 1.04×105 This Study
Copper (Cu) — 58×106 [34]
Aluminium — 35×106 [34]
(AL)
Carbon Nano- — 3×103 [35]
tube (CNT)
CFRE/CNT — 1.3×104 [36]
CFRE/CNT 8.3×103 [37]
CFRE/GNP 5.26×103 [38]
CFRE/GNP 7 [39]
CFRE/GNP 0.6 [40]
CFRE/Gra- 3.4×103 [41]
phene
(GNP)/
CNT

Figure 7. Temperature versus applied voltage graphs of all studied specimens.

homogeneous, more effective, reaching higher temperatures than CFRE neat as shown in figure 7. It was also
confirmed that the self-heating is repetitive in several cycles, reaching the same temperature when the same
voltage is applied.
Figure 7 shows Temperature versus applied voltage graph of all studied specimens (CFRE neat, CFRE/rGO1
A, CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/rGO2 B). At applied voltage=10 mV, the temperature of CFRE
neat is reached to 65 °C due to self-heating, but the temperatures of CFRE specimens coated with rGO paste
reached higher values at same applied voltage, where the temperatures of CFRE/rGO1 A, CFRE/rGO2 A,
CFRE/rGO1 B, and CFRE/rGO2 B reached to 88.4 °C, 96.8 °C, 86 °C, and 92.5 °C, respectively. In addition to
that, the addition of rGO nanofiller induced an increase in the thermal conductivity of CFRE, directly

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Figure 8. (a) Top view image of CFRE neat (b) top view image of CFRE/rGO2 A (c) top view image of CFRE/rGO2 A (d) top view
image of CFRE/rGO2 B at magnification of 500 nm (e) top view image of CFRE/rGO2 A at magnification of 500 nm.

proportional to the nanofiller content. Therefore, CFRE specimens coated with rGO2 paste reach higher
temperatures more than CFRE specimens coated with rGO1 paste at the same applied voltage. Because when the
rGO content is increased, the thermal and electrical conductivities of the specimens are increased and then the
self-heating due to joule effect is enhanced, eventually, the temperatures of specimens reach higher levels.

4.4. Material characterization

Figure 8 shows the results of characterization the top surface of sample: CFRE neat, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/
rGO2 B using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Figure 8(a) includes the image of top surface of CFRE neat,
the image shows there is no rGO paste at top surface. Figure 8(b) includes the image of the top surface of CFRE/
rGO2 A, and the image shows the shape of rGO2 coating over CFRE neat top surface after curing. Also, the image
in figure 8(c) includes the shape of rGO2 coating over CFRE neat top surface before curing. The images in
figures 8(d) and (e) show the shape of rGO2 sheets at magnification of 500 nm in the specimens CFRE/rGO2 A,
and CFRE/rGO2 B, the rGO2 sheets are transparent and homogenous with less agglomeration. However,

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Figure 9. Side view image of (a) CFRE/rGO2 A and (b) CFRE/rGO2 B.

figures 9(a) and (b) shows the cross-section image of CFRE/rGO2 A and CFRE/rGO2 B, respectively. The image
in figure 9(a) shows the thickness of rGO2 coating and how it is distributed over the surface of CFRE/rGO2 A in
a homogenous shape, while the image in figure 9(b) shows the thickness of rGO2 coating over the surface of
CFRE/rGO2 B, and it seems that a part of rGO2 paste is infiltrated inside the CFRE composite due to mold
compression during curing process.

5. Conclusion

A reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is used to coat the CFRE surface for improving and enhancing its electrical
conductivity to be used efficiently in the aviation applications. The results show that the electrical conductivity of
CFRE is enhanced and increased significantly when it is coated with different thicknesses of rGO by about
8015%. The results show that CFRE/rGO2 A has the highest electrical conductivity of 1.12×105 (S/m), while
CFRE neat has the lowest electrical conductivity of 1.38×103 (S/m). The improvement in the electrical
conductivity of CFRE after the addition of rGO is much higher than the rate of improvement of Carbon Nano
Tubes, and this is because the graphene has larger surface area more than CNT.
It is noticed that the electrical conductivity of CFRE has been improved significantly after coating it with
rGO. Also it is found that by increasing the percentage of rGO content, the electrical resistance decreased more
and more, which led to an increase in the value of electrical conductivity of CFRE several times. The rGO content
in rGO2 paste is higher than rGO content in rGO1 paste, then, the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with
rGO2 is higher than the electrical conductivity of CFRE coated with rGO1. For example, the electrical
conductivity of CFRE/rGO2 B is 1.04×105 (S/m) while electrical conductivity for CFRE/rGO1 B is 3.1×104
(S/m).
In this research, the self-heating of all specimens by the Joule effect was analyzed. It is found that the self-
heating of CFRE is enhanced and improved after coating it with rGO. The self- heating of rGO composites
(CFRE/rGO1 A, CFRE/rGO1 B, CFRE/rGO2 A, and CFRE/rGO2 B) are more effective and can reach higher
temperatures than CFRE neat. The self-heating after addition of rGO, become more homogeneous for their
higher thermal conductivity. It was also confirmed that the self-heating is repetitive in several cycles, reaching
the same temperature when the same voltage is applied. Due to the improvement of self-heating for CFRE/RGO
composite, it can be used for aircraft de-icing in future.

ORCID iDs

Belal Alemour https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7346-934X

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