13 - Graphene polymer foams and sponges’ preparation and applications

Abstract

Among graphene-based polymer composites, great interest has arisen in the past decade about combining the addition of graphene-based materials into different polymer-based matrices, more recently based on engineering and high-performance thermoplastics, with foaming, or more generally, with the possibility of reducing the density of said composites by means of foaming or generating different types of cellular structures (honeycombs, porous structures based on lattices or frameworks, among others). This chapter deals with some of the most-used preparation processes of graphene-based polymer foams and cellular materials, focusing on processes used to prepare foams and processes based on the preparation of graphene frameworks as precursors of graphene-polymer porous components, and possible applications of said materials, from supercapacitors or electrochemical and strain sensors to thermal interface or EMI shielding materials.