"Old approach promises new self-healing composites"

The latest research on multifunctional composites at Queen Mary is featured by Materials Today, explaining how one can revamp an "old" approach in composite manufacturing into a "new" smart composite with integrated easy-repairing capability.

By simply applying heat and pressure, the interlaminar damage of a carbon fibre/epoxy laminate can be repaired within just a few minutes. More importantly, the restored mechanical properties of interleaved laminates after four consecutive damage and repair cycles still outperformed the neat high performance carbon/epoxy laminates.

With an extended components’ service life, this "new" discovery based on an "old" approach paves the way for a more sustainable development of the composite sector and many potential applications.

The publication with open access can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.107337

Updated by: Han Zhang