Currently, among technological advancements, conventional materials such as metals and alloys are being replaced by polymers in such fields as biological muscles, automobiles, aerospace, storage devices, and electronics due to tremendous advances in polymer materials. Dielectric permittivity is one of the key factors for increasing the capability of smart material devices based on dielectric materials such as sensors, actuators, energy conversions, and energy storages. To improve the performance of a polymer, a variety of methods is available in order to increase the dielectric constant and conductivity of polymer materials. The incorporation of inorganic fillers such as metals, metal oxides, carbon black, and ceramics is a well-established approach to improve the thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of a pure polymer matrix. In fact, dielectric improvements can also be achieved with conductive fillers; increment of the dielectric constant is interesting due to a part of free charges’ contribution and interfacial polarization. The conductive fillers based on carbon families such as carbon black (CB), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene nanosheets (GRN) are a group of selected fillers, which were used to enhance the dielectric properties of electroactive polymers. This chapter presents the electrical and dielectric properties of tailored PVDF-HFP composites with the incorporation of graphene. This study will reveal and discuss graphene polymer composites based on the significant parameters governing their electrical behavior, including the enhancement of their dielectric properties with the combination of graphene and electron beam irradiation.

This chapter studies free vibration analysis of a functionally graded composite microplate reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets. The composite microplate is rested on Pasternak’s foundation. The microplate is subjected to thermal and mechanical loads. To account for size dependency in our formulation, the modified strain gradient theory is used which uses three microlength scale parameters in microscales. Graphene nanoplatelets are assumed to be distributed along the thickness direction based on regular patterns. A Halpin-Tsai micromechanical model and rule of mixture are used to compute the effective material properties such as effective modulus of elasticity and density or Poisson’s ratio. The kinematic relations of plate are developed based on a third-order shear deformation theory. The free vibration responses are investigated in terms of significant parameters such as weight fraction of GNPs, various distribution of GNPs, three microlength scale parameters, some nondimensional geometric parameters such as side length-to-thickness ratio and thickness-to-microlength scale ratio. To validate the present numerical results, two comparative studies are presented including the results based on modified couple stress theory and modified strain gradient theory.

In this chapter, a comprehensive review of graphene-based composite films is provided, including the preparation and performance of graphene-based composite Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, graphene-based composite electrospinning films, and other graphene-based composite films. At the same time, this chapter describes the latest developments in the preparation strategies and application fields for graphene-based composite films. In addition, the application prospects and challenges of graphene-based composite films are described.

In the present decade, by the development of nanoscience, other fields were affected considerably. Carbon-based nanomaterials, i.e., fullerenes, carbon black, single-walled, and multiwalled CNTs, GO, rGO, and graphene, were introduced as effective nanomaterials for different industrial applications. However, due to the unique electrical and thermal properties, graphene was known more than the others. Graphene and its derivates are some of the most common nanomaterials, which are extensively utilized in various applications, i.e., polymers due to the insufficient properties of pristine polymers. In other words, the presence of graphene-based nanofillers improves their durable properties. Evaluations confirmed that the existence of a low concentration of graphene (and its derivate) in the polymeric matrixes causes considerable effects on the natural properties of the graphene-containing polymeric matrixes. Recently, these nanoparticles have been applied in sensors, batteries, solar cells, etc. This chapter has focused on introducing graphene and the synthesis methods of its derivates, modification routes, and their impacts on the physical/chemical/thermal/anticorrosion properties of the polymeric matrixes.

Among graphene-based polymer composites, great interest has arisen in the past decade about combining the addition of graphene-based materials into different polymer-based matrices, more recently based on engineering and high-performance thermoplastics, with foaming, or more generally, with the possibility of reducing the density of said composites by means of foaming or generating different types of cellular structures (honeycombs, porous structures based on lattices or frameworks, among others). This chapter deals with some of the most-used preparation processes of graphene-based polymer foams and cellular materials, focusing on processes used to prepare foams and processes based on the preparation of graphene frameworks as precursors of graphene-polymer porous components, and possible applications of said materials, from supercapacitors or electrochemical and strain sensors to thermal interface or EMI shielding materials.

Graphene and graphene-based composites have been increasingly used in structural applications due to their exceptional mechanical properties and lightweight. Moreover, the development in synthesizing and isolating graphene particles has spurred their wide adoption in modern composite materials as nanofillers. Such additions of graphene are expected to drastically improve the overall structural responses while offering considerable versatility in manipulating the properties. Consequently, this chapter focuses on expounding the structural properties and capabilities of graphene-based composites. Initially, a brief description of the fundamentals of graphene-based composites, their properties, development, and application are given. Followed by this, an extensive discussion on the various analyses such as static, dynamic, transient, vibration, and buckling responses is presented to outline the structural performance of graphene-based composites in practical engineering applications. Lastly, the influence of environmental parameters and postprocessing treatments on the structural responses of such composites is assessed to provide a thorough understanding.

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) offer attractive high-energy efficiency and sustainable power density for large stationary electricity storage systems and are receiving increased attention in recent years. For the current drawbacks of perfluorosulfonic acid membrane, alternative sulfonated hydrocarbon-based composite PEMs are highly advantageous for VRFB applications because of their good proton conductivity and durability. The main emphasis of this chapter is to give an overview of advancements in the development of hydrocarbon-based composite PEMs containing the 2D graphene derivatives during the past decade. Unique combinations of physicochemical properties, excellent stability, and outstanding VRFB performance offered by graphene/polymer composite membranes are highlighted. The challenges facing the high performance PEMs and the tailored characteristics of GO functionality are also discussed.

In recent years, the use of functionalized-graphene composites using ionic liquids has become prevalent due to their high chemical stability, excellent thermal stability, environmental compatibility, and so on. In this chapter, after reviewing the properties and methods of preparing these materials, their applications will be studied. Common applications of these materials, including supercapacitors, solar cells, rechargeable batteries, hydrogen production and fuel cells, sensors, etc., have been carefully studied. The use of functionalized-graphene/ionic liquid composites in these particular applications has improved many system parameters due to their unique properties. According to the cases studied, a promising outlook of this class of materials is predicted.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing or additive manufacturing (AM) is a powerful technology that encourages and persuades designers and gives them unprecedented design freedom; however, this process requires fewer tools, hence the reduction of huge costs. Moreover, pieces can be specifically designed using this technology, as there would be no need for any assembly with geometry and complicated features for this apparatus. This technology has emerged as a technology with efficient energy consumption and no sign of contamination for the environment. Using standard material, the shelf life of parts grows, their weights decrease, and yet their strength increases. 3D printers can produce any piece in any shape and at any angle, whether it would be solid, hollow, flat or curved, etc., any piece with any complex design. This need can be felt everywhere: industry, medicine, education, automotive, military, and with anything that needs to be simulated, replicated, and prototyped. With a 3D printer, we can both accelerate the time-consuming process of simulation and make sketches of parts and examine a part by printing a 3D design in a very short time., In recent years, graphene oxide (GO) as the filler has become the subject of much research activity due to its outstanding features in AM. GO is rich in hydrophilic oxygen-rich classes, which favor spreading and cell adhesion; therefore, they play a role in its biocompatibility. Graphene-based polymeric nanocomposites have also been used to reinforce various polymeric materials as reinforcing fillers resulting in outstanding mechanical properties. In this chapter, graphene-based composites 3D printing and its usages in medicine and health care are discussed.

Thanks to the permanent progress of science and technology, the living conditions of most people in the world have been greatly improved over the last few decades. The demands are growing day after day and the increase in industrial and domestic energy consumption to satisfy these demands leads to a threat of a shortage of natural resources. Today, the use of fossil energy sources (coal, oil, and gas) is the origin of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas release, which contributes to the global warming of the Earth. The consequences of climate changes are multiple: violent storms, heatwaves, loss of snow cover, and rising sea level. In addition, industrial and domestic wastes are mostly responsible for the contamination of soil, water (rivers, oceans), and air and the pollutants can release highly toxic products (heavy metal ions, organic dyes, pesticides, pharmaceuticals) that in turn, by their degradation, contaminate the biota. To face these problems, renewable or green energy sources (solar, wind, ocean) are progressively developed to replace fossil energies, and solar energy is the most promising resource since it is abundant and is available anywhere on earth. Despite these progresses, the pollution of the environment is still a problem to be solved for the well-being of society, especially the destruction of pollutants, which can affect directly human health. In this chapter, we shall focus on the applications of graphene in the field of photocatalysis and in particular, on the treatment of pollutants. We shall review the photocatalysis principle, which is the basic process using solar energy to degrade pollutants for the remediation of the environment. We present the different strategies for improving the performance of photocatalysis of materials and introduce the use of graphene and its derivatives in composites to address and solve the environmental research challenges. We then discuss the mechanisms of degradation of pollutants including organic dyes and carbon dioxide among others, by the graphene-based composites, and compare the performance of these materials to that of commonly and widely used photocatalysts, especially titanium dioxide (TiO2).