Quantifying the Dispersion of Graphene Flakes in Advanced Composites

虽然我们不经常想到它，但复杂的材料对我们的日常生活和日常工作有着深远的影响。新材料的工程设计，沿着对其性能的精确控制，使得各个行业的新技术和创新得以发展。例如，如果没有能够在2000°C以上工作的坚固而轻便的材料，现代飞机就无法运行，如果没有能够长时间储存大量能量并在一系列现实条件下发挥最佳功能的电池，移动的技术就不可能实现。石墨烯是一种获得诺贝尔奖的材料，被归类为2D材料，这意味着它仅由单层原子组成。事实证明，这导致了令人难以置信的材料特性，如极高的导热性和导电性，以及拥有迄今为止发现的任何材料中最大的拉伸强度。Anaphite是一个由专业研究科学家和工程师组成的团队，他们致力于生产对我们的绿色未来产生重大影响的突破性材料。我们开发了一种新的工艺，能够将石墨烯引入到日常使用的现有材料中，大大改善其在某些应用中的材料性能。当然，这种工艺能够“提升”主体材料性能的程度取决于最终产品中石墨烯的含量以及分散程度。材料制备通常涉及许多工艺步骤，其中任何一个都可能影响石墨烯在最终产品中的整体分散。我们已经采取措施尝试在我们的实验室内验证这些变量，但为了微调这些材料用于商业产品，我们需要量化不同过程分散石墨烯的不同程度。国家物理实验室是英国一些顶级研究人员的所在地，沿着有一些最先进的设备用于测量材料特性。我们提出了一个Anaphite和NPL之间的合作项目，其中Anaphite的材料进行严格的测量和表征，以提高我们构建革命性材料的能力。

Though we don't often think about it, complex materials have a profound effect on our daily lives and routines. The engineering of new materials, along with the precise control of their properties, allow the development of new technologies and innovations across every industry. As examples, modern planes could not operate without strong and light materials capable of operating at above 2000°C, and mobile technology would not be possible without batteries that can store a vast amount of energy over long periods of time and function optimally in a range of real-world conditions.Graphene is a nobel-prize winning material, and is categorised as a 2D material, which means that it is composed of only a single layer of atoms. This, it turns out, leads to incredible material properties such as great thermal and electrical conductivity, as well as boasting the largest tensile strength of any material ever discovered.Anaphite are a team of expert research scientists and engineers who are committed to producing breakthrough materials that have a substantial impact on our green future. We have developed a novel process which is able to incorporate graphene into existing materials in everyday use, vastly improving their material properties for certain applications.Naturally, the extent to which this process is able to 'boost' the performance of the host material depends on how much graphene is present within the end product, as-well as how dispersed it is. Material preparation typically involves many process steps, any of which can affect the overall dispersion of graphene within the final product. We have taken steps to try to characterise these variables within our lab but in order to fine-tune these materials for use within commercial products, we need to quantify the extent to which the different processes disperse the graphene differently.The National Physics Laboratory is home to some of the UK's top researchers, along with some of the most advanced equipment used to measure material properties. We propose a collaborative project between Anaphite and NPL, whereby Anaphite's materials are rigorously measured and characterised in order increase the ability for us to build revolutionary materials.