WELL CHARACTERIZED FUNCTIONALIZED GRAPHENE SHEETS CUSTOMIZED FOR ENHANCED INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS WITH SILICONE AND POLYIMIDE POLYMER MATRICES. THE TERM FGS OR GRAPHENE SHEETS IS USED HERE TO REPRESENT NANOSCALE PARTICLES HAVING VERY HIGH AREA/THICKNESS DIMENSIONS (AS A SHEET) BUT IDEALLY BEING ONLY ONE OR A FEW MOLECULAR LAYERS THICK. THE GRAPHENE SHEETS AND ACCOMPANYING DATA WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIAL SYSTEMS WITH ENHANCED ELECTRICAL, THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES THAT CAN ENABLE STRUCTURAL WEIGHT REDUCTION VIA THE INTEGRATION OF FUNCTIONALITIES SUCH AS ELECTROSTATIC DISSIPATION, LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVAL, PERMEATION BARRIER, DAMAGE SENSING AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT INTO STRUCTURES. REQUIREMENTS: 1. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPLY EXFOLIATED FUNCTIONALIZED GRAPHENE SHEETS (FGS) DESIGNED FOR ENHANCED INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS WITH SILICONES AND POLYIMIDES. THE MATERIALS SHALL HAVE WELL DEFINED AND CONSISTENT PROPERTIES FROM BATCH TO BATCH. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DELIVER A REPORT TO NASA THAT INCLUDES CHARACTERIZATION DATA FOR BET SURFACE AREA ANALYSIS, X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND BULK CHEMICAL ANALYSIS FOR CARBON, HYDROGEN AND NITROGEN FOR ALL FGS PROVIDED. ALL DELIVERED MATERIALS SHALL HAVE UNCOMPRESSED SURFACE AREA IN THE RANGE OF 750-1000 M2/G AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION SHALL SHOW THE ABSENCE OF THE GRAPHITE (002) X-RAY DIFFRACTION PEAK. ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS SHALL INDICATE THE C:O RATIO REQUIRED TO OPTIMIZE INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS WITH SILICONE AND POLYIMIDE MATRICES. THE C:O RATIO SHALL COORDINATED WITH NASA FOLLOWING INITIAL EXPERIMENTAL RUNS. THE C:O RATIOS SHALL RANGE FROM 10:1 TO 200:1 REPRODUCIBLY FROM BATCH TO BATCH. 2. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DELIVER AN INITIAL SUPPLY OF 200G BASELINE AS PREPARED FGS; INCLUDING 100G QUANTITIES EACH FOR SILICONES AND POLYIMIDE MATRICES. 3. SUBSEQUENT SUPPLIES OF FGS SHALL BE CHEMICALLY MODIFIED TO IMPROVE INTERACTIONS WITH BOTH SILCONES AND POLYIMIDE POLYMENR MATRICES. THESE WILL BE USED FOR OPTIMIZATION STUDIES. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE 10 BATCHES OF MODIFIED FGS IN 100 GRAM BATCHES. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DELIVER BATCHES TO NASA INCREMENTALLY UNTIL THE OPTIMAL MATERIALS ARE IDENTIFIED FOR EACH OF THE TWO MATRIX MATERIALS (POLYIMIDE AND SILICONE). THE FINAL FGS BATCHES FOR BOTH OPTIMAL SILICON AND POLYIMIDE MATERIALS SHALL BE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH MATRIX: FOR THE SILICONE MATRIX: 1. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES A. 3.5 MATRIX MODULUS AND ULTIMATE STRENGTH (7 MPA) B. 2 MATRIX ELONGATION TO FAILURE (500%) C. 2 MATRIX ABRASION/WEAR RESISTANCE 2. ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY - 105 MATRIX CONDUCTIVITY FOR THE POLYIMIDE MATRIX: 1. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES A. 30% GREATER THAN MATRIX MODULUS (2.5 GPA) B. 20% GREATER THAN MATRIX ULTIMATE STRENGTH (100 MPA) C. 10% GREATER THAN MATRIX ELONGATION TO FAILURE (5%) D. 25% GREATER WEAR RESISTANCE 2. GAS PERMEABILITY - 20% LOWER THAN MATRIX 3. ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY 105 GREATER THAN MATRIX (10-18 S/CM) 4. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 100% GREATER THAN MATRIX (0.12 W/MK)