Boron (B) and Nitrogen (N) doped few layer graphene (BNG) is directly synthesized via electric arc discharge (EAD) method. NH₃ and BCl₃ gas mixtures are used in the synthesis atmosphere. Raman spectroscopy is used to determine graphene’s purity and number of layers. The investigation of structure and morphology of pristine graphene and BNG are carried out via Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The presence of B and N in the structure of graphene is detected by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. Elemental mapping show that N and B are distributed homogeneously in the graphene structure. It is observed that doping process did not affect the positions of the D, G and 2D bands in the Raman spectroscopy. The effect of doping on the number of layers of graphene is found negligible. TEM results exhibit that pristine graphene and BNG have 5 to 6 layers. Besides, the theoretical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) are employed to support experimental studies. Theoretical results based on DFT showed that bonding of B and N is favorable.

Aluminum matrix composites containing graphene nano-platelets (GNPs) as reinforcement additive were fabricated by a two-step process consisting of mechanical alloying and pressureless sintering. The effects of graphene nano-platelets amounts and mechanical alloying duration on the microstructural and mechanical properties of aluminum were investigated. The characterization studies were performed by X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry, particle size analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Archimedes' density and microhardness test method. The microhardness of composites increased gradually by the addition of 0.5 and 1 wt.-% GNP, whereas an adverse effect was observed by the increment of the GNP amount to 2 wt.-%.

Graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms arranged in a two dimensional lattice, has attracted great attention in recent years due to its extra ordinary properties and potential applications. One obvious application of graphene is in the field of nano-composites. In this work, graphene platelets (GPL) reinforced with epoxy nano-composites were fabricated by using soft molding technique in two different ratios with two different solvents. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the structure of graphene and graphene reinforced composites. Tensile and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in three point bending mode were used to investigate the mechanical properties of the composites. The tensile strength and strain to failure of nanocomposites of GPL reinforced epoxy nanocomposite were enhanced by 9.31 % and 34.78 %, respectively, while small improvement is observed in the elasticity modulus. Dynamic mechanical analysis has shown that with the addition of 0.1 and 0.5 wt.-% graphene nanoplatelets, storage modulus has increased by 20 and 46 % on the glassy region, respectively. The glass transition temperature is not affected with addition of graphene.