Production and characterization of new nano-structured composites for aeronautical application

The main goal of this thesis is to create new composites to merge at the nanoscale the exceptional optical, electronic and structural properties of 2D materials with those of conventional materials. We prepared a series of composites with 2D materials to be tested for applications in various fields including aeronautics and the automotive industry. Some of these materials were then benchmarked and selected for scaled-up production. Systems of increasing complexity were studied, from the modelling of simple, defectless sheets of graphene in vacuum to the modelling of highly defective graphene oxide sheets, featuring voids of different sizes. The results obtained allowed the correlation of mechanical behavior of composites under mechanical (tensile, bending or compressive), thermal and electrical stress with the 2D graphene materials used. Graphene is one of the most interesting 2D materials, with a two-dimensional monolayer of covalently bonded carbon atoms which is the basic building block of graphite and carbon nanotubes. Having caught the attention of the scientific community for its high rigidity (1 TPa, Tera-pascal) specific surface area (2600 m2g-1) and interesting electronic properties, it has now become a potential competitor to carbon nanotubes and carbon black in the field of composites. Although commercially available graphene does not reach the theoretical values of "ideal graphene" in terms of its intrinsic properties, dispersing graphene and its derivatives in polymers yield nano-composites with better properties compared to other carbon- and 2D-filler-based polymer composites. The work presented in this thesis demonstrates the properties of polymer composites reinforced with various types of 2D nano-fillers, prepared by dispersing the fillers in the polymer using a three-roll mill. The effect of filler type on the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of the nano-composite was studied. Graphene-based nano-composites outperformed graphene/epoxy composites in terms of mechanical, electrical and thermal properties.