Inspired by nacre, epoxy-graphene layered nanocomposites are tough and self-monitoring

To make epoxy-graphene nanocomposites, the graphene nanosheets are commonly mixed homogeneously with the epoxy matrix. However, one of the problems that bedevils these nanocomposites is the issue of agglomeration of the nanofillers. Researchers now report that they have sucessfully tackled this dispersion problem by constructing a continuous graphene-based scaffold. The results show that the team's novel strategy boosts the fracture toughness to about 3.6 times that of pure epoxy.