International. In Spain, a student at the Higher Technical School of Naval and Oceanic Engineering (ETSINO) of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) has developed a 'nanocomposite' (nanotechnological composite material) based on graphene, which could revolutionize shipbuilding with composite materials.
Israel Gago, student of the Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Systems Engineering presented a paper on the applications of this new material at the next National Congress of R & D in Defense and Security, which was held at the Naval Military School of Marín (Pontevedra) at the end of November.
The 'nanocomposite' that Gago has synthesized, by doping with graphene of a conventional resin, has proven to possess several very interesting properties for the naval sector. This material is more resistant and tenacious, with a breaking elongation 40% higher than that of the original polymer, and at the same time it is light enough to float in fresh water. It is immune to corrosion; it does not absorb water over time or attach to it marine life; all its components are recyclable and biocompatible, so that it does not pollute the environment at all.
Gago has also designed a system to manufacture thin sheets of this plastic, with a transparency of more than 95% and a roughness of only 0.8 microns, about 200 times less than that of the best naval paint available today on the market.
The numerous application applications of this superplastic are not limited to the naval sector, but cover fields as novel as 3D printing, personal ballistic protection or the aerospace sector. The Office of Transmission of Research Results (OTRI) of the UPCT is already studying its corresponding patent, authorship that it has shared with several of its professors, due to the high added value of the product created by Gago.
The discovery of graphene was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2010. Since then, graphene has marked a before and after in the world of new materials in general and nanotechnology in particular. Graphene is a material composed of pure hexagonal carbon in the form of a crystalline sheet of a single atom thick. It is the most resistant material known, and its thermal and electrical conductivities exceed those of any metal.
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