Challenges and opportunities in multifunctional nanocomposite structures for aerospace applications

One important application of nanocomposites is their use in engineered structural composites. Among the wide variety of structural applications, fiber-reinforced composites for aerospace structures have some of the most demanding physical, chemical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical property requirements. Nanocomposites offer tremendous potential to improve the properties of advanced engineered composites with modest additional weight and easy integration into current processing schemes. Significant progress has been made in fulfilling this vision. In particular, nanocomposites have been applied at numerous locations within hierarchical composites to improve specific properties and optimize the multifunctional properties of the overall structure. Within this article, we review the status of nanocomposite incorporation into aerospace composite structures and the need for continued development.