Bioinspired, Graphene/Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Doubly Reinforced Aluminum Composites with High Strength and Toughness.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28961006.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03308.
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Abstract
Nacre, commonly referred to as nature's armor, has served as a blueprint for engineering stronger and tougher bioinspired materials. Nature organizes a brick-and-mortar-like architecture in nacre, with hard bricks of aragonite sandwiched with soft biopolymer layers. However, cloning nacre's entire reinforcing mechanisms in engineered materials remains a challenge. In this study, we employed hybrid graphene/Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> platelets with surface nanointerlocks as hard bricks for primary load bearer and mechanical interlocking, along with aluminum laminates as soft mortar for load distribution and energy dissipation, to replicate nacre's architecture and reinforcing effects in aluminum composites. Compared with aluminum, the bioinspired, graphene/Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> doubly reinforced aluminum composite demonstrated an exceptional, joint improvement in hardness (210%), strength (223%), stiffness (78%), and toughness (30%), which are even superior over nacre. This design strategy and model material system should guide the synthesis of bioinspired materials to achieve exceptionally high strength and toughness.