Inkjet Printing of Plasma Functionalised Graphene to Deliver Multifunctional Polymer Composites for Aerospace Applications (PlasmaGraph)

The objective of the PlasmaGraph project is to develop a method by which plasma functionalised graphene can be selectively deposited onto fibre reinforced composites to deliver multi-functionality to aerospace structures.

There are three main elements to deliver to meet this overall objective:

- Plasma functionalised graphene; to prevent the re-agglomeration of the graphene in a dispersion and the re-agglomeration of the graphene can both reduce the inherent properties of the graphene and, for inkjet printing, prevents use of graphene dispersions as the re-agglomerated material can block print heads;

- Inkjet printing of graphene dispersions onto fabric preforms; this allows the selective placement of graphene into structural composites and will deliver multifunctional benefits;

- Manufacturing of graphene functionalised composite components; this requires the inkjet printed graphene

to remain in-situ when the final composite part is manufactured so that the benefits are retained, but also so that there is no release of the graphene to the environment during processing.