Buckypaper from frit compression of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Ten times lighter, but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite, Buckypaper could revolutionise the way everything from airplanes to TVs are made.

Buckypaper is made from carbon nanotubes 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Buckypaper is named after Buckminsterfullerene, or Carbon 60 – a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds make it twice as hard as a diamond.

Buckypaper owes its strength to the huge surface area of each of the nanotubes it comprises.

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British firm Axon Automotive has combined a 500cc engine with a low-weight body to create an affordable 100mpg carbon composite passenger car.

The company has replaced the steel or aluminium traditionally used for vehicle frames, with recycled carbon fibre composites, which are as strong as steel, but 60 per cent lighter. Using carbon materials throughout the car body has a huge impact on the power-to-weight ratio, it means acceptable overall performance can be achieved with a much smaller, lighter and more frugal engine.

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Bristol University and Imperial College London have been awarded a £1.2 million four-year research grant to fund the development of methods to arrest, redirect and self-heal compression fractures in composite structures.

The research, entitled ‘crack arrest and self-healing in composite structures’ (CRASHCOMP), funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the Defence and Technology Laboratory, will offer potential solutions to significantly improve the damage tolerance of composite components.

A free annual CRASHCOMP workshop will be held at University Bristol and Imperial College London on alternate years, providing a forum for academics, researchers and industry to review the results and influence the direction of the programme.

A new technique that mimics the natural healing process could enable damaged aircraft to automatically mend themselves, even during flight.

The technique, developed by aerospace engineers at Bristol University, is based on the bruising and bleeding/healing process seen in humans, and has the potential to be used wherever fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are used.

The technique involves filling the hollow glass fibres contained in FRP composites with resin or hardener. When the fibres break, perhaps due to a tiny hole or crack appearing in an aircraft, the resin and hardener ‘bleeds’ out, enabling the composite to recover up to 80 – 90 per cent of its original strength – allowing the plane to function at its normal operational load.

By mixing dye into the resin, any ‘self-mends’ would show as coloured patches that could be easily pinpointed during subsequent ground inspections, and a full repair carried out if necessary.

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