Composites

Work Package 14

Our Work Package develops high-performance composites using graphene and layered materials that meet the high standards required by industrial sectors such as the aerospace, automotive and energy generation industries. We incorporate graphene and layered materials into various different matrix combinations, from thermoplastics and thermoset composites to elastomers and inorganic composites.

Driven by market demand

Our Work Package is motivated by the demands of the commercial market. We have adopted a value chain strategy to establish synergy between the needs of the end users and the state-of-the-art knowledge developed by our academic partners. This philosophy helps us to achieve our goal of creating more cost-effective products with higher technology readiness levels, for rapid transition from the laboratory to the market.

In particular, we are working on the following market-driven composite technologies:

• Low-cost, quality-controlled masterbatches of polymer pellets enhanced by graphene and layered materials, for widespread use in the plastics industry.
• Fibre and fibreglass-reinforced polymer composites with lower weight, higher thermal and electrical resistance, and improved mechanical strength and stiffness. These materials could reduce fuel consumption, emissions and assembly costs in the aerospace and automotive industries.
• Elastomers with improved flexibility and strength, lower shrinkage, better wear resistance and higher chemical resistance and thermal stability – with applications in the aerospace and automotive industries as well as in sensors, robotics, thermal dissipation, fire protection, water resistance and power distribution.
• Composites containing inorganic components, such as metallic powders, nanoparticles or nanofibers, to improve the efficiency of conductors, create coatings for environmental protection and design new components for additive manufacturing. These materials could improve the thermoelectric properties and lifetime of construction materials and reduce assembly time and cost in all of the above industries