Loughborough-based Haydale (www.haydale.com) has supplied graphene-enhanced ‘prepreg’ material for Juno, a 3m-wide composite-skinned aircraft that was unveiled as part of Futures Day at the Farnborough International Airshow 2018.

This advanced material, developed by Haydale, has potential value for fuselage and wing surfaces in larger-scale aero and space applications — especially for the rapidly expanding drone market and (in the longer term) the commercial aerospace sector.

By incorporating ‘functionalised’ nanoparticles into epoxy resins, the electrical conductivity of fibre-reinforced composites has been significantly improved for lightning-strike protection, thereby achieving substantial weight saving and removing some manufacturing complexities.

The Juno project, led by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), has provided the ideal demonstration regarding the viability of this ‘prepreg’ material for structural applications, and the ability to use it to make components using traditional composite manufacturing methods.

Further developments are under way to produce the next iteration of lightning strike protection materials based on these nano-carbon-enhanced ‘prepregs’.

This technology also has the potential to offer performance benefits for a wide range of applications and industries; these include large offshore wind turbines, as well as marine, oil and gas and electronics.

Haydale worked with the aerospace engineering team at UCLAN, Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute to develop the unmanned aerial vehicle, which also includes graphene batteries and 3-D printed parts.

Ray Gibbs, Haydale CEO, said: “We are delighted to be part of the project team. Juno has highlighted the capability and benefit of using graphene — properly dispersed into composite materials — to meet key issues faced by the market, such as reducing weight to increase range, defeating lightning strikes and protecting aircraft skins against ice build-up.”