MEAM Master’s Thesis Defense: “In Situ Additive Manufacturing of Metal-Graphene Composites by Upcycling Polymers”

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a bourgeoning additive manufacturing technique for rapid prototyping and creating unconventional designs using metal alloys. In parallel, graphene has garnered significant research interest since its discovery, owing to its remarkable mechanical and transport properties. Driven by the potential advances in additive manufacturing, this project aims to harness the intrinsically high energy densities characteristic of LPBF for in situ formation of graphene using polymers as a direct carbon source during the metal 3D printing process. This innovative approach provides a comprehensive understanding of the underlying graphene formation mechanisms and to thoroughly characterize the resulting metal-graphene systems produced via LPBF. This thesis project investigates the processing parameters and properties of these 3D metal-graphene composites in comparison to conventional metal alloys.