Characterisation of graphene-enhanced carbon-fibre/PEEK manufactured using spray-deposition and laser-assisted automated tape placement (ATP)

Abstract

The inclusion of nanomaterials within fibre-reinforced polymer composites can enable novel high-performance structures, and graphene is one of the most promising candidate nanomaterials with a unique combination of exceptional mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Near-term graphene nanocomposites need to adopt both a scalable nanomaterial synthesis technique and a scalable method to integrate nanomaterials into composites during the manufacturing process. This work explores the spray-deposition of liquid phase exfoliated graphene for the interlaminar enhancement carbon-fibre reinforced polyether ether ketone (PEEK) composites. This approach enables spray-deposited nanomaterial thin films that can be incorporated directly into composites during advanced manufacturing processes such as laser-assisted automated tape placement, which we demonstrate here. Our preliminary investigations suggest that the presence of graphene can enhance the thermal history of the composite during manufacturing in addition to enhancing the properties of the manufactured composite material.