Graphene Nanoplatelets on Multi-Scale Polymer Composites for Potential Ballistic Shielding

Abstract

Continuous development, improvement and innovation of ballistic material systems with superior energy absorption performance has been the subject of numerous works nowadays. Some research has been carried out with the objective of replacing traditional metallic and ceramic materials and composites with high-performance polymeric composites. Due to their excellent properties, multi-scale polymer composites have been used in the most varied segments of the industry, being recently researched in applications such as ballistic materials. This work promotes the combination of high-strength three-dimensional woven aramid fiber fabrics with vinyl ester resin to produce a panel through the compression molding process. The resin was reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% wt). The impact, tensile and flexural strength were evaluated, along with dynamic-mechanical analysis by DMA and by Hopkinson split bar test, indicating a trend of better performance for the composite containing 0.1% of graphene nanoplatelets.

Keywords:
Graphene nanoplatelets; vinyl ester resin; aramid fiber; composites ballistics; dynamic-mechanical analysis