Graphene-based high-performance pseudo-ductile glass-carbon/epoxy composites
Mohammad Hamidul Islam, Shaila Afroj, Nazmul Karim
Abstract
High-performance fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites offer outstanding specific strength and stiffness. However, their inherent brittleness can result in sudden and catastrophic failure without adequate warning, making them unsuitable for many applications. To overcome this limitation, we developed graphene-based glass-carbon FRP hybrid composites with excellent pseudo-ductile properties. Our method involves coating glass and carbon fibre fabrics with graphene-based materials using a scalable pad-dry-cure technique, followed by epoxy matrix reinforcement via vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI). Tensile and flexural tests reveal remarkable pseudo-ductile behaviour, with 1 wt.% GNP-coated composites show approximately ∼17.05% higher Young's modulus, ∼18.52% higher ultimate failure stress, and ∼31.73% higher strain% compared to glass-carbon/epoxy hybrids. By enabling the manufacture of high-performance pseudo-ductile composites at scale using a cost-effective manufacturing method, these composites hold significant potential for next-generation applications.