Quantifying the Dispersion of Graphene Flakes in Advanced Composites

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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.