Abstract
In this work, we creatively obtained reinforced and toughened PC/PMMA/GNs composites by tuning the migration and selective location of graphene nanosheets (GNs) during melt blending. TEM results revealed that the migration of GNs in PC/PMMA blends during melt blending always existed no matter how the GNs were introduced, and most of them exclusively localized at the interface of PC and PMMA phase due to interfacial effects. The migration of GNs could refine the size of the dispersed phase, and the exclusive localization of GNs at the interface show obvious interfacial compatibilizing effects, leading to improved mechanical properties of the composites. It was found that the composite prepared by one-step compounding showed significant enhanced strength and toughness with addition of mere 0.05 wt% GNs and the tensile strength and elongation of the composite increased by about 62.96% and 94.54%, respectively as compared to the PC/PMMA blends. Moreover, the composite prepared by one-step compounding also showed improved thermal conductivity at the same time, indicating excellent comprehensive properties. It is believed that tuning the migration and selective localization of GNs open perspectives for the development of high-performance polymer composites.
Highlights
The migration and selective location of layered nanoparticles in polymer blends during melt blending have been widely studied in recent two decades as they offer opportunities to obtain materials with excellent properties.[1,2,3,4,5,6] In general, layered nanoparticles could selectively distribute in dispersed phase, matrix phase or an interface of polymer blends under proper thermodynamic and kinetic factors;[2] this selective distribution determine the ultimate properties of blends by affecting the microstructure
From the TEM micrographs of composites prepared by two-step compounding with pre-mixed PMMA/Graphene nanosheets (GNs) and PC/GNs (Fig. 1(a), (a1), (b) and (b1)), it is amazing to see that most GNs localized in the interface of the polycarbonate/polymethyl methacrylate (PC/PMMA) blends, signifying the migration of GNs from the PMMA phase to the interface or from the PC phase to the interface during melt blending
The TEM results indicated that the migration of GNs always existed in PC/PMMA blends during melt blending no matter how the GNs were introduced, and part of GNs were exclusively distributed at the interface of PC and PMMA phases due to interfacial effects
Summary
The migration and selective location of layered nanoparticles in polymer blends during melt blending have been widely studied in recent two decades as they offer opportunities to obtain materials with excellent properties.[1,2,3,4,5,6] In general, layered nanoparticles could selectively distribute in dispersed phase, matrix phase or an interface of polymer blends under proper thermodynamic and kinetic factors;[2] this selective distribution determine the ultimate properties of blends by affecting the microstructure. If the distribution of layered nanoparticles can be tuned in a controlled manner, a polymer blend with tailored performance can be prepared.[6,7] the controlled preparation of locally distributed layered nanoparticle/polymer composites with tailored properties is always one of the ambitions that researchers focus on It is known from the above analysis that most of the current studies focus on the effect of selective location of GNs on electrical and thermal properties, and few research studies report the fabrication of reinforced and toughened polymer blends by selective location of GNs. In this study, we amazingly found that a reinforced and toughened polycarbonate/polymethyl methacrylate (PC/PMMA) blends could be prepared by selectively localizing GNs in the interface of the blends. It is believed that this study should provide a method for fabricating a tailored mechanical and heat-conducting performance polymer blend by tuning the selective location of layered nanoparticles on an industrial scale
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