Graphene and related materials in hierarchical fiber composites: Production techniques and key industrial benefits
Review article, 2020
Fiber-reinforced composites (FRC) are nowadays one of the most widely used class of high-tech materials. In particular, sporting goods, cars and the wings and fuselages of airplanes are made of carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRC). CFRC are mature commercial products, but are still challenging materials. Their mechanical and electrical properties are very good along the fiber axis, but can be very poor perpendicular to it; interfacial interactions have to be tailored for specific applications to avoid crack propagation– and delamination; fiber production includes high-temperature treatments of adverse environmental impact, leading to high costs. Recent research work shows that the performance of CFRC can be improved by addition of graphene or related 2-dimensional materials (GRM). Graphene is a promising additive for CFRC because: 1) Its all-carbon aromatic structure is similar to the one of carbon fiber (CF). 2) Its 2-dimensional shape, high aspect ratio, high flexibility and mechanical strength allow it to be used as a coating on the surface of fiber, or as a mechanical/electrical connection between different fiber layers. 3) Its tunable surface chemistry allows its interaction to be enhanced with either the fiber or the polymer matrix used in the composite and 4) in contrast to carbon fibers or nanotubes, it is easily produced on a large scale at room temperature, without metal catalysts. Here, we summarize the key strategic advantages that could be obtained in this way, and some of the recent results that have been obtained in this field within the Graphene Flagship project and worldwide.
Author
[Person d7f90864-daed-4c6c-9076-eab03d6beedb not found]
Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)
[Person 53dc461e-89dc-4c03-ae43-59cba8e5a25f not found]
Fiat
University of Turin
[Person aa4b79d5-9232-4f7c-9dd4-fee84da20661 not found]
Airbus Group
[Person b53a02b6-3930-4c28-aad5-2ec698e7299f not found]
Fiat
[Person 4138ffe1-6ef0-4757-ac5a-eec5de5fdeda not found]
Fiat
[Person 9c7fec4a-aebe-48f4-be79-2cfab74b3221 not found]
Queen Mary University of London
University of Trento
del Politecnico snc
[Person 87a11baf-78d4-4c48-b56e-172566e8c1a0 not found]
University of Manchester
[Person f282258b-5a9e-4d2c-83ec-4f79322cfce1 not found]
Universityof Patras
[Person 264da585-a32a-4498-b195-ebf1dd22dcf5 not found]
Universityof Patras
[Person d752d461-6c3f-4637-9706-77293bb1dffe not found]
Nanesa S.r.l.
[Person a6bda005-4523-4974-b25b-6a434f3d1073 not found]
AVANZARE Innovacion Tecnologica S.L.
[Person 4c58ed16-5dc1-45e0-a913-dc6657eac571 not found]
Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)
[Person 57a5ef99-cffb-4487-9c85-2e68b0beed22 not found]
University of Manchester
[Person 51954037-f460-4c38-9726-dc47578e9d8c not found]
Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Composites Science and Technology
0266-3538 (ISSN)
Vol. 185 107848Subject Categories
Polymer Technologies
Textile, Rubber and Polymeric Materials
Composite Science and Engineering
DOI
10.1016/j.compscitech.2019.107848