Composites of Graphene Nanoribbon Stacks and Epoxy for Joule Heating and Deicing of Surfaces

A conductive composite of graphene nanoribbon (GNR) stacks and epoxy is fabricated. The epoxy is filled with the GNR stacks, which serve as a conductive additive. The GNR stacks are on average 30 nm thick, 250 nm wide, and 30 μm long. The GNR-filled epoxy composite exhibits a conductivity >100 S/m at 5 wt % GNR content. This permits application of the GNR-epoxy composite for deicing of surfaces through Joule (voltage-induced) heating generated by the voltage across the composite. A power density of 0.5 W/cm2 was delivered to remove ∼1 cm-thick (14 g) monolith of ice from a static helicopter rotor blade surface in a −20 °C environment.