Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-33236687-20171002185841/@comment-33236687-20171003161643

Graphene is now used with kevlar in current military and law enforcement ballistic armor and has been used for that purpose for the past 5 years. Apparently, your knowledge of graphenes uses is slightly outdated. Actually, it is extraordinarily smart. Here is some "basic information for you  on a graphene blend applicaiton for military / law enforcement ballistic protection:

Graphene sheets are formed from hexagonal carbon atoms linked by covalent bonds. Each sheet is considered as a single molecule since it is one atom thick. Graphene possesses high strength because of the strength of covalent bonds between each atom.

A recent breakthrough for graphene applications is in materials for bulletproof vests developed by combining carbon nanotubes with graphene. In 2012, researchers from the University of Wollongong (UOW) developed a new graphene-based material which is tougher than substances such as spider silk and Kevlar that are widely employed in bulletproof vests. Ballistic/bulletproof vests employ layers of strong fibers to absorb the energy of the bullet, and deform it, to disperse its energy throughout the vests. They minimize the force of the bullet in one area, and prevent the bullet from penetrating the textile matrix and body.

Sometimes, bullets may penetrate some fiber layers of the vest. However, the energy from the bullet is absorbed by larger fiber areas as the bullet starts to deform. To this date, Kevlar and spider silk are still regarded as the toughest fibers employed in ballistic vests. UOW researchers developed the composite material by adding equal parts of graphene and carbon nanotubes to the polymer. This graphene material was then processed into fibers using a wet-spinning method.

