Effect of graphene oxide coating on the ballistic performance of aramid fabric

Abstract Twaron® brand aromatic polyamide, commonly known as aramid fabric, was reinforced with a solution of graphene oxide (GO) followed by a heat treatment at 120 °C. The objective was to improve the ballistic properties of the material by increasing the friction coefficient of the fibers in the fabric. The GO produced by the modified Hummers method was characterized by Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy as well as by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy. Both the as-received fabric and fabric coated with one and two filtrations of GO were characterized by the above-mentioned technique in addition to optical microscopy (OM). All samples were subjected to ballistic tests with 9 mm ammunition. The energy absorbed by the materials was calculated from the values ​​of impact velocities and residual obtained by Doppler radar. The type of failure was characterized by means of SEM and OM visual analysis. The results show a better resistive force of the two filtrations GO coated fabric, up to 50%, when compared to the plain as-received fabric.