Interfacial mechanical properties of periodic wrinkled graphene/polyethylene nanocomposite

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the interfacial mechanical properties of periodic wrinkled graphene (GR) with polyethylene (PE) matrix. The influences of amplitude (H), wavelength (λ), and vacancy defect for the periodic wrinkled GR on the interfacial mechanical properties were considered and the potential mechanisms were analyzed. The results indicate that the interfacial mechanical properties of GR with periodic wrinkles are superior to that of flat GR, especially when the the interfacial strength enhances ∼29.3%. Through the radial distribution function (RDF) analysis we found that the stronger interfacial mechanical properties are, the more PE molecular chains are attached to the GR when the GR is separated from the PE matrix. In addition, we found that vacancy defect in periodic wrinkled GR does not always degrade the interfacial mechanical properties, and when the vacancy defect content is 20%, the interfacial mechanical properties can be improved, as the vacancy defect reduces the interfacial distance and increases the roughness of the interface.