Driven by the innovative technologies of graphene, carbon nanotubes and new materials such as new composite materials, various universities, institutions and technology companies have carried out various in-depth studies on these new materials. The new material can be a good substitute for traditional metal materials and other traditional materials. For example, it is said that the silicon era is coming to an end and graphene will bring a whole new era.
Recently, James Tour, a chemist at Rice University in the United States, and materials scientists Pulickel Ajayan and Rouzbeh Shahsavari at Rice University, and researchers at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics have jointly developed a very tough and highly conductive composite material. This material is mainly composed of a series of high molecular polymers such as epoxy resin and graphene.
The preparation method of the graphene epoxy resin composite material is different from typical graphene composite material preparation methods such as a melt blending method, a solution blending method, and an in-situ polymerization method. Mix, use cold pressing technology to compact the material, then remove nickel through heating and chemical treatment to obtain a porous 3D scaffold, and finally use a vacuum to inject epoxy resin into the scaffold. It is worth mentioning that the researchers mixed multi-walled carbon nanotubes into the graphene foam as a reinforcing material. This approach made the composite material approximately 17 times harder than pure epoxy resin and had an electrical conductivity of about 1 cm. 14 Siemens.
The researchers said that the material could well replace the carbon composite resins currently used in the aerospace and civil fields in the future.
In fact, the aerospace and automotive industries using carbon fiber composite materials to make parts is nothing new. As early as 1950, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the United States began to study the use of rayon to make carbon fibers. So far, the use of carbon fiber composite materials in many large fighters in the United States has increased significantly. For example, the fourth-generation combat force F-22 uses about 24% carbon fiber composite materials, and Lockheed Martin is manufacturing F The carbon fiber composite material is as high as 35% for the -35 fighter.
To say that carbon fiber composite materials have really started to develop, we have to mention Japan's Toray Corporation. Since the development of high-performance carbon fibers in 1969, the output has been the world's first. At present, the product that has a better application in the aerospace field is Toray's Two materials, T1100G and T2000, are claimed to be the highest strength carbon fiber in the world. Among them, T1100G has a tensile strength of 6.6 Gpa. Although T2000 is still in the R & D center, it is said that its strength can reach 60 GPa. Previously, Toray's Carbon Magic had been identified as a supplier by Boeing in 2017 and began delivering first-grade carbon fiber composite structural components in October last year.
The development of carbon fiber composite materials in the domestic aerospace field has also been developed in recent years. The carbon fiber composite materials of the domestically-produced large aircraft C919 that has been successfully tested recently used 12%, and the amount of carbon fiber used in the CR929 being developed by China and Russia will be Reached 51%.
If the strength of this graphene epoxy composite material developed by Chinese and American scientists is greater than that of Toray T1100G and T2000, and it has good conductivity and mass production, the weight of aircraft in the future will be reduced a lot. The anti-fatigue ability and the electrical conductivity of components will also be greatly improved on the existing basis, and humans will be one step closer to the ultimate aerospace dream.