Reinforced composites, methods of manufacture, and articles therefrom

1. A reinforced composite comprising:

a first layer and a second layer; wherein the first layer comprises a reinforcing material and the second layer comprises a carbon composite;

the reinforcing material comprising one or more of the following: a carbon fiber based reinforcing material; a fiberglass based reinforcing material; a metal based reinforcing material; or a ceramic based reinforcing material; and

the carbon composite comprises about 50 wt. % to about 80 wt. % of carbon and about 20 wt. % to about 50 wt. % of a binder, based on a total weight of the carbon composite, the carbon comprising one or more of the following: expanded graphite; expandable graphite; natural graphite; or synthetic graphite; and the binder containing one or more of the following: SiO 2 ; Si; B; B 2 O 3 ; a metal; or an alloy of the metal; and wherein the metal is one or more of the following: aluminum; copper; titanium; nickel; tungsten; chromium; iron; manganese; zirconium; hafnium; vanadium; niobium; molybdenum; tin; bismuth; antimony; lead; cadmium; or selenium,

wherein the reinforced composite comprises about 92 wt % to about 99 wt % of the carbon composite based on the total weight of the reinforced composite.

2. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the first layer relative to the thickness of the second layer is about 1:10 to about 10:1.

3. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced composite comprises alternating first and second layers.

4. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber based material comprises one or more of the following: a carbon fiber filament; a carbon fiber roving; a carbon fiber yarn; a carbon fiber tow; a carbon fiber tape; a carbon fiber ribbon; a carbon fiber mesh; a carbon fiber tube; a carbon fiber film; a carbon fiber braid; a woven carbon fiber; a non-woven carbon fiber; or a carbon fiber mat.

5. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber comprises a woven carbon fiber having a mesh size of about 10 to about 400.

6. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the metal based reinforcing material comprises one or more of the following: a metal fiber; a metal fiber yarn; a metal fiber mesh; or a metal fiber fabric; the fiberglass based reinforcing material comprises a fiberglass fabric; and the ceramic based reinforcing material comprises one or more of the following: a ceramic textile; ceramic fiber wool; or refractory ceramic fiber.

7. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the carbon in the carbon composite comprises expanded graphite.

8. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the carbon composite comprises carbon microstructures having interstitial spaces among the carbon microstructures; wherein the binder is disposed in at least some of the interstitial spaces; and wherein the carbon microstructures comprise filled voids within the carbon microstructures.

9. The reinforced composite of claim 8 , wherein the carbon composite comprises at least two carbon microstructures and a binding phase disposed between the at least two carbon microstructures; and wherein the binding phase comprises the binder.

10. The reinforced composite of claim 9 , wherein the binding phase comprises a binder layer and an interface layer bonding one of the at least two carbon microstructures to the binder layer; and wherein the interface layer comprises one or more of the following: a C-metal bond; a C—B bond; a C—Si bond; a C—O—Si bond; a C—O— metal bond; or a metal carbon solution.

11. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the first layer further comprises a binder containing one or more of the following: SiO 2 ; Si; B; B 2 O 3 ; a metal; or an alloy of the metal; and wherein the metal is one or more of the following: aluminum; copper; titanium; nickel; tungsten; chromium; iron; manganese; zirconium; hafnium; vanadium; niobium; molybdenum; tin; bismuth; antimony; lead; cadmium; or selenium.

12. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the weight of the carbon composite relative to the weight of the reinforcing material is about 50:1 to about 1:50.

13. The reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced composite is in the form of a bar, block, sheet, tubular, cylindrical billet, toroid, powder, or pellets.

14. An article comprising the reinforced composite of claim 1 .

15. The article of claim 14 , wherein the article is a load-bearing element.

16. The article of claim 14 , wherein the article is a bearing; a bearing seat; a bushing; a piston; or a backup ring.

17. A method of manufacturing the reinforced composite of claim 1 , the method comprising:

alternately disposing the reinforcing material and a composition comprising the carbon and the binder in a mold to provide a reinforced composition; and

compressing the reinforced composition at a temperature of about 350° C. to about 1400° C. and a pressure of about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi to form the reinforced composite, wherein the composition comprising the carbon and the binder forms the carbon composite in the second layer.

18. A method of manufacturing the reinforced composite of claim 1 , the method comprising:

laminating a reinforcement layer on a carbon composite layer to provide a reinforced composition; and

compressing the reinforced composition at a temperature of about 350° C. to about 1400° C. and a pressure of about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi to form the reinforced composite;

wherein the reinforcement layer forms the first layer comprising the reinforcing material; and

the carbon composite layer forms the second layer comprising the carbon composite.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the laminating comprises laminating multiple alternating layers of a reinforcement layer and a carbon composite layer to form the reinforced composition.