Graphene Nano Powder Embedded Glass Fiber Composites for Enhanced Multifunctional Performance

Graphene is the most lucrative choice for automotive and aerospace industries due to its magnificent increase to strength of a composite and lightweight which ultimately lead to enhanced durability and performance. In this study, graphene nano powder (GNP) was added into hybrid glass fiber mixed with epoxy composites at different percentages for each grouping (0, 0.3, and 0.6 wt.% total) to see what effect it is having on various mechanical properties. Whereas most of the previous work done before focuses on graphene oxide (GO) or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as the filler, this study highlights how to achieve the balanced improvements in various mechanical properties such as tensile strength, impact resistance, and hardness using GNP as a dispersion substitute: namely, at which level of the internally dispersed phase of the composite. Due to low cost and durable strength, glass fiber mixed with epoxy composites are common in structural design. Their wide adoption is limited by brittleness, low impact resistance, and weak fiber-matrix adhesion. These weaknesses were addressed by dispersing GNP in epoxy resin using magnetic stirring to prevent agglomeration, adding hardener, and consolidating with glass chopped strand mats using hand lay-up method. After fabrication, specimens underwent several tests i.e tensile strength test (ASTM D638), hardness test (ASTM D2240), and impact resistance test (ASTM D256). Compared to neat glass fiber mixed with epoxy composite, reinforced specimens showed significant enhancement. 0.6 wt% GNP produced optimum results with tensile strength, hardness and impact strength increasing by 256.25%, 49.4%., and 60.83% respectively. The results validate the hypothesis that moderate GNP loading improves mechanical properties in a significant percentage. To summarize, it is observed that moderate amounts of GNP incorporated into glass fiber/epoxy composites improved composite’s mechanical properties significantly using a hand lay-up method.