Preparation and properties of graphene/carbon fiber/poly(ether ether ketone) composites

Graphene/carbon fiber/poly(ether ether ketone) (GR/CF/PEEK) composites were prepared by directly spraying a GR dispersion onto CF/PEEK prepregs, followed by hot-pressing the stacked prepregs. The structure of the prepregs and cross-section of the composites were characterized by SEM. The mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the composites were measured to evaluate the influence of GR on their performance. Results showed that the addition of 0.1 wt% GR increases the interlaminar shear strength, the flexural strength and flexural modulus of the composites from 57.3 MPa, 1 226.2 MPa and 64.5 GPa to 77.6 MPa, 1 512.3 MPa and 73.6 GPa, respectively. DSC analysis showed that the crystallinity of the composites increased with the GR content. The thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity of the composites were increased by 15.5 and 73.1%, respectively after 0.5 wt% GR was added. The GR/CF/PEEK composites have much better mechanical, thermal and electrical performance than the CF/PEEK composites.