Materials Graphene
could boost the properties of thermoplastic components.
The small world of graphene
G
raphene is the new wonder material that will give us space elevators, nano- scaled microcircuits
and impossibly light aircraft. At least, that’s the theory. For now, the material simply holds lots of promise, and is still very much a laboratory curiosity. But this potential has led many research teams to investigate how graphene might be moved out of the laboratory and into the world of engineering.
A new research project called Nanomaster aims to develop new methods to make graphene (and similar nano-scaled carbon compounds) and incorporate it into thermoplastics, in an attempt to boost physical properties.
“It’s the combination of electronic, thermal and mechanical properties that is of interest,” says Ben Hargreaves, senior project manager at Nanomaster’s co-ordinator NetComposites. “If we wanted to improve any one of
these properties, there are other ways of doing it. But graphene can do all three, allowing multi- functional property enhancement.”
Some of the physical properties boosted by graphene (and nano- particles in general) are flame redundancy, barrier properties (which is useful for plastic packaging) and mechanical strength. Just a small amount of graphene can improve the stiffness, strength and electrical properties of thermoplastics. The aim of the project is to strengthen plastic components, allowing their weight to be cut by as much as 50 per cent.
Graphene is one of a number of nano-structured forms of carbon being studied in the project. The others include expanded graphite and nano-graphite. In each case, the very small particle size has a far greater effect than conventionally sized additives – such as standard carbon black, which is commonly used as an anti-static additive in plastics.
Roll call
Fig. 1. Sheets of graphene can have a huge effect as a plastic additive.
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Nanomaster is a wide-ranging project, encompassing materials specialists, research organisations, manufacturing companies and health and safety experts. As well as being project co-ordinator, NetComposites will take charge of moulding graphene nanocomposite test panels. Roechling, which makes plastic car parts such as air intake manifolds, is also an expert in plastic moulding. Among other
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