Abstract
The current study reports the effect of different wt. ratios of copper oxide nanoparticle (CuO-NPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as fillers on mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of waste polystyrene (WPS) matrix. Firstly, thin sheets of WPS-rGO-CuO composites were prepared through solution casting method with different ratios, i.e., 2, 8, 10, 15 and 20 wt.% of CuO-NPs and rGO in WPS matrix. The synthesized composite sheets were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrical conductance and mechanical strength of the prepared composites were determined by using LCR meter and universal testing machine (UTM). These properties were dependent on the concentrations of CuO-NPs and rGO. Results display that the addition of both fillers, i.e., rGO and CuO-NPs, collectively led to remarkable increase in the mechanical properties of the composite. The incorporation of rGO-CuO: 15% WPS sample, i.e., WPS-rGO-CuO: 15%, has shown high mechanical strength with tensile strength of 25.282 MPa and Young modulus of 1951.0 MPa, respectively. Similarly, the electrical conductance of the same composite is also enhanced from 6.7 × 10−14 to 4 × 10−7 S/m in contrast to WPS at 2.0 106 Hz. The fabricated composites exhibited high thermal stability through TGA analysis in terms of 3.52% and 6.055% wt. loss at 250 °C as compared to WPS.
Highlights
Over the years, extensive research has been carried out on the polymeric composites to improve their electrical, thermal and mechanical properties [1]
waste polystyrene (WPS) was used as a matrix to prepare composite with different wt. ratios of CuO-NPs and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as fillers
The composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
Summary
Extensive research has been carried out on the polymeric composites to improve their electrical, thermal and mechanical properties [1]. Polymer composites were introduced by consolidating different sorts of inorganic fillers into polymeric frameworks Nano-sized CuO, is an attractive material which finds wide applications in many fields on account of its attractive properties such as its nano size range, specific surface area and outstanding electrical, thermal and mechanical properties [14]. It is a p-type semiconductor, having promising electrical, thermal and magnetic properties. In this study, expanded WPS was collected from street wastes It was transformed into a composite material by fortification with various amounts of rGO and CuO-NPs as fillers. Electrical properties of the composites were investigated
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