Grapheneusedto makegraphenecoppercompositethats 500 timesstronger

By Sebastian Anthony on August 27, 2013 at 8:59 am

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10 inShare Researchers at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have created composite materials using graphene that are up to 500 times stronger than the ra ! non"composite material# This is the first time that graphene has $een successfully used to create strong composite materials % and due to the tiny amounts of graphene used (&ust 0#0000'( $y eight) this $rea)through could lead to much faster commercial adoption than pure graphene! hich is still incredi$ly hard to produce in large *uantities# At this point! e shouldn+t $e holly surprised that graphene % hich holds a huge num$er of superlative titles! including the strongest material )no n to man % can also $e used to create strong composite materials# In this case! the KAIST researchers created a copper"graphene composite that has 500 times the tensile strength of copper (1#5 gigapascals)! and a nic)el"grapehene composite that has 1,0 times the tensile strength of nic)el (' gigapascals)# This is still some ay off graphene+s tensile strength of 1-0 ./a % hich is a$out 000 times stronger than steel (100 2/a) % $ut it+s still very! very strong# At 1#5 ./a! copper"graphene is a$out 50( stronger than titanium! or a$out three times as strong as structural aluminium alloys#

To create these composites! the KAIST researchers use a process called 345 (chemical vapor deposition) to gro monolayers (one"atom"thic) layers) of graphene# These monolayers are then deposited onto a thin film of metal (copper or nic)el)# Another layer of metal is then evaporated (a method of deposition) on top of the graphene# This process is repeated! until you have a sand ich consisting of a fe layers of metal and graphene# 5ifferent metal thic)nesses ere tested ($et een 60nm and -00nm)! and it as found that thinner layers result in much stronger composites# 7ecause graphene is so thin! the amount used is a$solutely tiny8 9ust 0#0000'( of the metals $y eight#

The reason these composites are so strong is that the graphene stops the metal atoms from slipping and dislocating under stress# In a solid metal! if a slip plane forms (due to stress)! the atoms ill readily slip apart! causing a fracture# The layers of graphene stop the metal atoms from sliding % the metal atoms cannot physically pass through the super"strong graphene % so no fractures can form (pictured a$ove)# It+s essentially the metallic e*uivalent of steel"reinforced concrete# In case you ere ondering! this is also one of the primary reasons hy metals are nearly al ays used in alloy form % $ecause there+s a mi: of different metal atoms ith different atom si;es! it+s much harder for slip planes to form#

2oving for ard! the researchers ill no need to find a ay of mass"producing these graphene"$ased composites! prefera$ly ith a roll"to"roll or metal sintering process# These composites! due to their massive strength! could find myriad uses in the automotive and aerospace industries! or simply as a ne tool for structural engineers and industrial design# 9ust the sheer fact that e no )no that graphene can $e used as a composite is massive ne s! too8 If graphene can suddenly turn soft copper into a structural material! imagine hat it might do for something li)e titanium or steel! or even commercial polymers li)e Kevlar# <o read8 .raphene aerogel is seven times lighter than air! can $alance on a $lade of grass

Research paper8 doi810#10-,=ncomms-11' " >Strengthening effect of single"atomic"layer graphene in metal?graphene nanolayered composites@