Graphene car components enhance energy efficiency
Automotive components made with graphene could help reduce CO2 emissions and make vehicles safer.
This is the claim of Sunderland University’s Prof Ahmed Elmarakbi, who is leading a project with European partners to develop lighter, stronger, and more energy-efficient vehicles using graphene.
Prof Elmarakbi, from Sunderland’s Department of Computing, Engineering and Technology, told The Engineer that the iGCAuto project would achieve this by producing a new type of composite material using a polymer enhanced with graphene.
He said: ‘The idea is to keep the composite material as it is – composed by carbon fibre or glass fibre.
‘We’ll enhance the polymer characterisation by embedding graphene in certain ways inside the polymer – the polymer will be enhanced by being stronger and lighter.’
The automotive industry has been identified as requiring significant volumes of components made from advanced composite materials that can reduce the overall weight of a vehicle and the amount of fuel required to operate it.
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