Automated Process Control System of Advanced Carbon Nanocomposite Materials Production Using Vibroturbulization with Optimal Parameters

Abstract

Nanocomposites are a material that contains nano-sized particles in a matrix of a standard material. The addition of nanoparticles to the matrix leads to a dramatic improvement in the properties of the resulting nanomaterial, including mechanical strength, toughness, and electrical or thermal conductivity. Existing methods of nanocomposites production, which consist in laser decomposition of an aerosol  of a ferrocene solution in toluene, as a result of which a nanocomposite containing a morphous carbon nanoparticles and isolated iron-based nanoparticles is formed continuously and in one operation; in the use of carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion technology; in the use of  low-frequency ultrasonic treatment. These methods do not allow achieving the main goal of creating promising carbon nanocomposite materials with a base (matrix) filled with uniformly distributed carbon and isolated iron-based nanoparticles with high strength and rigidity.  The article presents the developed automated process control system of advanced carbon nanocomposite materials production, which permits to carried out automatically all stages of production: injection of a liquid hardener and a solvent into the mixer at a certain temperature and quantitative composition and heating them to the required temperature; injection into the mixer under temperature decrease to the necessary epoxy resin and filler; the use of vibration of the total mixture produced in the mixer in the mode of vibroturbulization precalculated optimal parameters that permits to achieve the main goal of nanocomposites witha base (matrix) filled with uniformly distributed nanoparticles or a combination of nanoparticles production that give them high strength and rigidity.