Investigating the Effects of Hollow Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles on the Thermal/Mechanical Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites: Experimental, Analytical and Simulation Approaches

Abstract

In this study, the main purpose was to investigate the behavior of the nanoparticles with different structures and similar based materials in polymer nanocomposites. To this end, different samples, containing PS as the matrix, and layered graphene oxide (GO) and/or hollow graphene oxide nanoparticles (HGO), were prepared via melt mixing process and were subjected to heat conduction and tensile tests. To evaluate all the features of the interaction between the polymer phase and the nanoparticles, a thermal/mechanical analytical model was proposed and the results were used to simulate the behavior of specific geometrical structures, corresponding to the real samples, under different thermal/mechanical conditions. The results showed a good agreement between the experimental and the simulation model along with the analytical model. In addition, it was found that the HGO nanoparticle had such a good performance in enhancing the thermal and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite, due to their unique structure.