Photo-responsive graphene for anti-corrosive and conductive strong, compliant silicone nanocomposites

石墨烯是一种超薄的碳基材料，由单层碳原子排列成二维薄片构成。它显示出特殊的热和电子传导性能。石墨烯还具有很高的抗腐蚀性能，因为它对气体和小分子的扩散具有超高的抵抗力，并且由于其对氧化的优异稳定性。然而，石墨烯的缺点是在聚合物基质中溶解性/分散性差，并且难以加工，除非使用稳定剂。不幸的是，虽然使用稳定剂可以改善加工性能，但它也会降低石墨烯基纳米复合材料的性能。该项目旨在开发一种新型的方法，使用一种智能超薄石墨烯表面功能化，称为聚合物刷，来稳定石墨烯。特别是，我们将设计可以通过光照射从石墨烯表面裂解的聚合物刷，从而使它们能够用于改善石墨烯的加工，而不会损害其特殊的热传导和电传导以及抗腐蚀性能。这项技术可能会对石墨烯在各种技术中的应用产生重大影响。与FormFormForm Ltd.合作，作为一家名为Sugru的硅基树脂系列的公司，我们将探索使用这些材料来产生热量和导电的硅基基质，以及将此类复合材料用作防腐蚀涂层。由于石墨烯的特殊性能，这种柔性硅基复合材料的高性能可以为这种硅基材料开辟广泛的应用。因此，我们将探索使用这种新技术来解决制造业目前面临的一些挑战。

Graphene is an ultra-thin carbon-based material that is constituted of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged into a twodimensional sheet. It displays exceptional heat and electron conduction properties. Graphene also has a high potential foranti-corrosion properties as it displays ultra-high resistance to the diffusion of gases and small molecules and due to itsexcellent stability towards oxidation. However, graphene suffers from the drawback of being poorly soluble/dispersible inpolymer matrices and hard to process, unless stabilisers are used. Unfortunately, although the use of stabilisers leads toimprove processability, it also decreases the performance of graphene based nanocomposites.This project aims to develop a novel approach for the stabilisation of graphene using a type of smart ultra-thin graphenesurface functionalisation, termed polymer brush. In particular, we will design polymer brushes that can be cleaved from thegraphene surface by irradiation with light, hence enabling their use to improve the processing of graphene without impairingits exceptional heat and electrical conduction and anti-corrosion properties. This technology could have a considerableimpact on the application of graphene to a wide range of technologies.In collaboration with FormFormForm Ltd., the company behind the range of silicone-based resins called Sugru, we willexplore the use of these materials to generate heat and electrically conductive silicone based matrices, as well as theapplication of such composites as anti-corrosion coatings. Achieving high performance for such flexible silicone-basedcomposites, thanks to the exceptional properties of graphene, could open up a wide range of applications for such siliconebasedmaterials. Hence we will explore the use of this new technology to address some of the current challenges in themanufacturing industry.