Biomimetic laminated basalt fiber-reinforced composite with sinusoidally architected helicoidal structure integrating superior mechanical properties and microwave-transmissibility

Abstract

High-efficient microwave-transmissibility, mechanical durability, and lightweight are in significant demand for wireless communication components. Unfortunately, conventional materials can hardly meet the requirements for emerging radio-frequency (RF) devices so far. Herein, inspired by the sinusoidally architected helicoidal structure of mantis shrimp's dactyl club, a biomimetic laminated basalt fiber-reinforced composite (BL-BFRC) is designed and manufactured through a method combining linear helicoidal layup and hot press forming. Remarkably, the flexural strength and flexural modulus of BL-BFRC are 259.71 MPa and 22.61 GPa, which increase by 28.4% and 36.9% over those of conventional BFRC (202.27 MPa and 16.52 GPa). In addition, BL-BFRC exhibits a dielectric constant of 2.2858 and a loss tangent of 1.55 × 10−3, which are much lower than those of conventional BFRC (3.6459 and 9.73 × 10−3). Accordingly, the microwave-transmissibility increases from 93.53% (conventional BFRC) to 98.34% (BL-BFRC). In fact, the superior mechanical durability of BL-BFRC is mainly attributed to the crack deflection of helicoidal structure and stress dissipation of sinusoidal morphology. And the efficient microwave-transmissibility benefits from dielectric transition effect on non-smooth sinusoidal surface. This work uniquely combines the features of high-efficient microwave-transmissibility and mechanical durability into RF devices and would enable a broad range of wireless communication applications.