Recent progress in graphene-reinforced biomimetic ceramic composites: a review

Monolithic ceramic and ceramic composites have been widely used in aerospace, energy storage devices, energy transportation, and tissue engineering; however, their high brittleness limits their structural applications. Improving the mechanical properties by designing a microstructure or adding reinforcement in a ceramic matrix is imperative. Natural materials such as bamboo, bone, and nacre contain hard and soft phases in a complex hierarchical design with good nano to macroscale characteristics. Biomimetic structures inspired scientists and researchers to construct materials to enhance their mechanical properties. Recently, scientists have been inspired by the exceptional mechanical properties of graphene and its derivatives. A lot of research has been done on graphene-reinforced ceramic/polymer composites. However, polymer/ceramic composites have limitations for high-temperature applications. For future direction, stable mechanical properties at high temperatures are most important for designing artificial biomimetic ceramic composites. Therefore, graphene-reinforced artificial biomimetic material is a good choice for fabricating ceramic composites for advanced engineering applications. This review discussed the structural design, different processing techniques, and mechanical properties of graphene-reinforced biomimetic ceramic composites.