Ceramic composite materials and methods
Provided herein are methods of making composite materials. The methods may include infiltrating a carbon nanoscale fiber network with a ceramic precursor, curing the ceramic precursor, and/or pyrolyzing the ceramic precursor. The infiltrating, curing, and pyrolyzing steps may be repeated one or more times. Composite materials also are provided that include a ceramic material and carbon nanoscale fibers.
1. A composite material comprising:
a ceramic material dispersed in a carbon nanoscale fiber network which (a) comprises a plurality of substantially aligned mechanically stretched carbon nanoscale fibers having an aspect ratio greater than 100,000:1, and (b) is in the form of a sheet or a strip,
wherein the composite material (i) includes a volume fraction of the plurality of substantially aligned carbon nanoscale fibers of at least 35%, and (ii) has an electrical conductivity of at least 1.75×10 4 S/m.
2. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material is flexible.
3. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the volume fraction of the plurality of substantially aligned carbon nanoscale fibers in the composite material is about 40% to about 80%.
4. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the electrical conductivity of the composite material is about 2.0×10 4 S/m to about 3.0×10 4 S/m.
5. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a tensile strength of at least 400 MPa.
6. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a tensile strength of about 450 MPa to about 650 MPa.
7. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic material comprises silicon carbonitride.
8. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic material is evenly dispersed in the carbon nanoscale fiber network.
9. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of substantially aligned carbon nanoscale fibers comprises single-wall carbon nanotubes, multi-wall carbon nanotubes, or a combination thereof.
10. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the mechanically stretched carbon nanoscale fiber network is a buckypaper.
11. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of substantially aligned carbon nanoscale fibers comprises pristine carbon nanotubes.