Repetitive self-healing of Diels-Alder grafted graphene nanoplatelet reinforced carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites with outstanding mechanical properties.

Khan, Nazrul Islam; Halder, Sudipta; Goyat, M S; Borah, Lakshi Nandan; Das, Subhankar · Soft Matter · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The concept of using bio-inspired healing mechanisms in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-based laminated composites is one of the trending areas of research for lightweight high-performance materials. To introduce self-healing in laminated composites, we developed Diels-Alder (DA) grafted graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and introduced them into carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The DA-grafted GNPs provided dual benefits, such as repetitive self-healing along with an increased mechanical performance of the modified CFRP. The GNPs were functionalized with DA adducts, <i>i.e.</i>, bismaleimide and furfurylamine <i>via</i> a facile functionalization approach. The highest healing efficiency evaluated using double cantilever beam (DCB) tests was observed as ∼87% with more than 10 times repeated healing cycles. The innovative concept and strategy proposed in this work could be a gateway to a new area of research to upscale for industrialization of DA-based repetitive self-healable and durable CFRP-based composites.