Highlights

This is a selection of publications from the Structural Power Composites Group. For a full list of publications, please see below.

Highlights

Electrical performance of carbon fibre electrodes

The electrical response of carbon fibre reinforced electrodes in structural power composites under cyclic compaction.

Structural supercapacitor demonstrator

Manufacture and characterisation of a structural supercapacitor demonstrator.

Electrochemical performance of carbon fibre electrodes

Electrochemical performance of supercapacitor electrodes based on carbon aerogel-reinforced spread tow fabrics

Multifunctional design

Multifunctional design, feasibility and requirements for structural power composites in future electric air taxis.

Current collector design strategies

Current collector design strategies: The route to realising scale-up of structural power composites.
Model Car

Multifunctional performance

Mechanical, electrochemical and multifunctional performance of a CFRP/carbon aerogel structural supercapacitor
Structural power plane

Structural power in electric aircraft

Structural Power Performance Targets for Future Electric Aircraft

Silica aerogel

Silica aerogel infused hierarchical glass fiber polymer composites
CNT-infiltrated CF

CF-CNT structural supercapacitors

Robust Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Infiltrated Carbon Fiber Electrodes for Structural Supercapacitors

Structural power phone

Massless energy

‘Massless’ energy for future electric vehicles using multifunctional structural power composites

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Greenhalgh:2025:10.1177/1045389x251325998,
author = {Greenhalgh, ES and Nguyen, S},
doi = {10.1177/1045389x251325998},
journal = {Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures},
pages = {1251--1254},
title = {A retrospective on the inception and development of structural power composites},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1045389x251325998},
volume = {36},
year = {2025}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - This paper sets out the motivation for structural power composites: structural materials imbued with the capability to store and deliver electrical energy. The conception and development of structural supercapacitors at Imperial College London is described, with current devices now starting to approach the performance of conventional ‘monofunctional’ composite laminates and supercapacitors. Although these materials could offer tremendous lightweighting and energy storage benefits, there are considerable research challenges yet to be addressed. Melding of composite mechanics and electrochemistry disciplines leads to a daunting research landscape, so the effort has been partitioned into four themes: Constituent Development, Device Assembly and Characterisation, Multifunctional Modelling and Design and Scale-Up and Demonstration. This paper culminates by setting out, for each theme, where future research should focus to advance this exciting technology.
AU  - Greenhalgh,ES
AU  - Nguyen,S
DO  - 10.1177/1045389x251325998
EP  - 1254
PY  - 2025///
SN  - 1045-389X
SP  - 1251
TI  - A retrospective on the inception and development of structural power composites
T2  - Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1045389x251325998
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1177/1045389x251325998
VL  - 36
ER  -
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Related links

Contact

Professor Emile S Greenhalgh
Department of Aeronautics
Imperial College London
South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ

+44 (0)7958 210 089
e.greenhalgh@imperial.ac.uk