Ricerc@Sapienza

The integration of surface sensing elements providing an in situ monitoring of the UV-induced degradation effects in composite materials and structures is crucial for their applications in hostile environments characterized by high levels of radiation, such as space. In this work, we investigate the electrical response of a novel UV-sensitive nanocomposite film using electrical resistance tomography (ERT), and we compare the measured conductivity changes at the irradiated surfaces with results from SEM morphology analysis and surface analytical techniques, such as Raman microscopy.

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an unobtrusive and portable monitoring method allowing the reconstruction of the electrical conductivity in a 2D domain of interest, from the voltage measurements of electrodes positioned along the boundary of the domain. Electrical conductivity changes can be correlated to damage. EIT has been used in biomedical engineering applications (e.g. to monitor the brain function as a patient loses consciousness from anesthesia) and for structural health of advanced composite materials subject to mechanical damage.