| Abstract Scope |
Fiber-reinforced composites (FRC) are key materials in aerospace, automotive, and sports industries due to their superior strength-to-weight ratios. However, achieving proper adhesion between the fibers and the adhesive matrix poses a challenge due to the low surface energies of many fibers. Here, we replace the fibers in FRCs with tapes that have inherently strong adhesive capabilities, eliminating the need for a dedicated matrix material, giving rise to "quasi-composites" that feature only one constituent material. We employ solvent cast printing to make such tapes and entire composites either by directly welding them together during manufacture, or by producing them one layer at a time and assembling later. These approaches result in quasi-composites with varying inter-tape adhesive strengths. Our stacked quasi-composites outperform the constituent tapes by up to 30% in strength and 290% in toughness. Our work presents the foundation to develop quasi-composites with high performance tapes that significantly out-perform all existing FRCs. |