Raman spectroscopy has been used to show that graphene has the potential to replace carbon fibres in high performance materials that are used to build aircraft. Graphene—discovered in 2004 by physicists Professor Andre Geim and Dr Kostya Novoselov at The University of Manchester—is a two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms that resembles chicken wire.

As well as being an excellent conductor of electrons, with the potential to replace silicon, graphene is also one of the stiffest-known materials. A recent study found it to be the strongest material ever measured. This led researchers to investigate its behaviour and properties when mixed with other materials. A team from the University of Manchester, which included Dr Novoselov, put a single graphene sheet between two layers of polymer and used Raman spectroscopy to measure how the carbon bonds responded when the graphene was stretched. Their work has been published in Advanced Materials (doi: 10.1002/adma.200904264).

The researchers were able to use Raman spectroscopy to look at the change of the vibrational energy of the bond and then worked out the change in bond length. From this information they calculated the improvement in stiffness the graphene gave to the polymer composite.

Professor Robert Young of the School of Materials, said: “We have found the theories developed for large materials still hold even when a material is just one atom thick. We can now start to use the decades of research into traditional carbon fibre composites to design the next generation of graphene-based materials.”

Dr Ian Kinloch, a researcher in the School of Materials, commented: “This relatively new material continues to amaze, and its incredible properties could be used to make structural, lightweight components for fuel efficient vehicles and aircraft.”

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