Abstract
The orientation of reinforcement fillers in composites plays a vital role in their mechanical properties. This paper employs the Mori–Tanaka micromechanics model, incorporating the effect of stretching-induced reorientation of graphene platelets (GPL), to predict Young’s modulus of GPL/polymer nanocomposites. Subjected to uni-axial stretching, dispersion of GPLs is described by an orientation distribution function (ODF) in terms of a stretching strain and two Euler angles. The ODF shows that GPLs tend to realign along the stretching direction. Such realignment is enhanced at a higher Poisson’s ratio and under a larger stretching strain. It is found that the out-of-plane Young’s modulus of GPL nanofillers has a limited effect on the overall Young’s modulus of the composites. With an increase in stretching strain and GPL concentration, Young’s modulus increases in the stretching direction while it decreases in the transverse direction. A larger aspect-ratio of GPLs with fewer layers is preferred for enhancing Young’s modulus in the stretching direction, but it is unfavorable in the transverse direction. Moreover, Young’s moduli in both longitudinal and transverse directions are more sensitive to the reorientation of smaller-sized GPLs with a greater concentration in the composites.
Highlights
Adding graphene and its derivatives into polymers as reinforcements has been observed to dramatically enhance the mechanical properties of the composites and their structures while keeping the advantages of polymers such as flexibility, large deformation, low cost and excellent biological and biochemical compatibility [1,2,3]
This paper investigates the effect of uni-axial stretching-induced reorientation of graphene platelets (GPL) on Young’s modulus of the nanocomposites through employing a micromechanics model
The effects of uni-axial stretching-induced GPL reorientation on Young’s moduli of GPL/polymer composites are investigated by employing the Mori–Tanaka micromechanics model
Summary
Adding graphene and its derivatives into polymers as reinforcements has been observed to dramatically enhance the mechanical properties of the composites and their structures while keeping the advantages of polymers such as flexibility, large deformation, low cost and excellent biological and biochemical compatibility [1,2,3]. It should be noted that the above-mentioned studies are mainly focused on the manufacturing and characterization of the composites and their structures, with well-dispersed nanofillers, without involving any effects of orientation and distribution state of the reinforcements. The mechanical properties of the composites can be optimized via manually controlling the realignment of the fillers In their experimental work, Camponeschi et al [29] observed improved Young’s modulus of the carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced composites when exposed to a magnetic field for realignment. It is necessary to investigate the effects of reorientation of the nanofillers on the mechanical properties of the composites Research in this area, especially theoretical studies, is quite limited, despite its practical significance. It should be pointed out that the present work is focused on the influence of reorientation of the nanofillers and the interphase between the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix at nanoscale is not discussed
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