VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites • Home • News • Features • All Things Materials o Blogs o Engineer's Puzzle o Podcasts o Tweets o Videos o Whitepapers • Explore o Coatings and Tribology News Features Videos Suppliers o Composite materials News Features Videos Suppliers o Materials in Production News Features Videos Suppliers o Metals and Alloys News Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites Features Videos Suppliers Rubber and Plastics News Features Videos Suppliers Sustainable Engineering News Features Videos o o • Tech Spotlight • Videos • Suppliers • Events • Magazine o Download Magazine o Request Free Magazine o Subscribe for Ezine o Features List • Advertise Search Engi Share0 22 July 2016 Engineers create nanolayered composites Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites Adapting a trick used for centuries by both metalsmiths and pastry makers, a team of researchers at MIT has found a way to efficiently create composite materials containing hundreds of layers that are atoms thick but span the full width of the material The discovery could open up wide-ranging possibilities for designing new, easy-tomanufacture composites for optical devices, electronic systems, and high-tech materials Researchers have been searching for ways of using nanomaterials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, to add strength to composite materials, in the way steel bars are used to reinforce concrete The biggest obstacle has been finding ways to embed these materials within a matrix of another material in an orderly way These tiny sheets and tubes have a strong tendency to clump together, so stirring them into a batch of liquid resin before it sets doesn’t work The MIT team’s insight was in finding a way to create large numbers of layers, stacked in a perfectly orderly way, without having to stack each layer individually Although the process is more complex than it sounds, at the heart of it is a technique similar to that used to make ultrastrong steel sword blades or puff pastry A layer of material is spread out flat, then doubled over on itself, rolled out, and then doubled over and over again With each fold, the number of layers doubles, producing an exponential increase in the layering Just 20 folds would produce more than a million perfectly aligned layers In this research, rather than folding the material, the MIT team cut the block —consisting of alternating layers of graphene and the composite material — into quarters, and then slid one on top of another, quadrupling the number of layers, and then repeating the process The result was the same: a uniform stack of layers, quickly produced, and already embedded in the matrix material to form a composite In their proof-of-concept tests, the MIT team produced composites with up to 320 layers of graphene embedded in them They were able to demonstrate that even though the total amount of the graphene added to the material was less than 1/10 of a percent by weight, it led to a clear-cut improvement in overall strength Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites One unexpected feature of the new layered composites, the team said, is that the graphene layers, which are electrically conductive, maintain their continuity all the way across their composite sample without any short-circuiting to the adjacent layers This could ultimately lead to new kinds of complex multilayered electronics Author Tom Austin-Morgan This material is protected by MA Business copyright See Terms and Conditions One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not For multiple copies contact the sales team Supporting Information Related Websites http://web.mit.edu Related Companies MIT News Office Do you have any comments about this article? Name Email Comments Your comments/feedback may be edited prior to publishing Not all entries will be published Please view our Terms and Conditions before leaving a comment Post Comment News Flat graphene speakers Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites graphene-based filament High performance AM material Features Airbus print entire aircraft Metal favoured by hypercars Metal manipulation Videos Nylacast Polymers SMA-reinforced composite Knitted wearable sensors Blogs Graphene's potential Composites to plateau Prepare for the mud © MA Business Ltd (a Mark Allen Group Company) 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Engineering Materials News Features All things Materials Videos Suppliers Magazine Events Explore Coatings and Tribology Composite Materials Materials in Production Metals and Alloys Rubber and Plastics Sustainable Engineering Archive Magazine Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang VLHENMA HK I 16-17 Engineers create nanolayered composites • • • • • • • • • • • Download Magazine Request Free Magazine Subscribe for Ezine Features List Advertise With Us Contact and Info Contact Us Twitter RSS Feed Terms and Conditions Copyright Privacy Policy Cookie PolicyGet the Newsletter Link: http://www.materialsforengineering.co.uk/engineering-materials-news/engineerscreate-nanolayered-composites/143786/ Nguyễn Văn Thân - 15145366 Trang ... possibilities for designing new, easy-tomanufacture composites for optical devices, electronic systems, and high-tech materials Researchers have been searching for ways of using nanomaterials,... which are electrically conductive, maintain their continuity all the way across their composite sample without any short-circuiting to the adjacent layers This could ultimately lead to new kinds... multilayered electronics Author Tom Austin-Morgan This material is protected by MA Business copyright See Terms and Conditions One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not For multiple copies