Electrically conductive carbon fiber / PEKK / silver nanowires multifunctional composites

New multifunctional composites with high through-thickness electrical conductivity were elaborated with carbon fiber (CF) reinforced PEKK filled with silver nanowires (AgNWs). Composites were fabricated by film stacking at high temperature for the first series of samples and by powder impregnation for the second series. Morphological analysis of composites was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to check impregnation quality of carbon fibers and dispersion of AgNWs across the ply. Electrical conductivity was measured in the out-of-plane direction of laminates and recorded as a function of the volume fraction of silver nanowires. It was observed that the presence of small fractions of AgNWs (∼1.5 vol%) within the carbon fiber reinforced PEKK increased the transverse conductivity of non-filled CF/PEKK laminates by at least 3 orders of magnitude. The maximum conductivity achieved by laminates is 250 S m−1. These new multifunctional composites may be used as structural high performance composites for electromagnetic shielding, or lightning strike protection.