Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Styrene-Isoprene-Styrene Copolymer Doped with Expanded Graphite Nanoplatelets

Zdenko Špitalský,Katarína Csomorová,Ján Kratochvíla,Luis C Costa,Manuel P F Graça,Igor Krupa

doi:10.1155/2015/168485

Abstract

The molecular dynamics of a triblock copolymer and of expanded graphite nanoplatelets were investigated. Composites were prepared using the solution technique. The effects of filler addition and of filler-matrix interactions were investigated using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Only one relaxation was observed by DRS, which was associated with the relaxation of the main polymer chain. Both DRS and DMA demonstrated that the addition of the filler does not cause a significant change in either the temperature of the relaxation or its activation energy, which suggests the presence of weak interactions between the filler and matrix. The storage modulus of the composites increased with increasing filler content. The composite containing 8% filler exhibited a storage modulus increase of approximately 394% in the rubber area. Using the DC electrical conductivity measurements, the electrical percolation threshold was determined to be approximately 5%. The dielectric permittivity and conductivity in the microwave region were determined, confirming that percolating behavior and the critical threshold concentration.

Highlights

Graphene is a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a two-dimensional (2D) carbon honeycomb lattice
Both dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) demonstrated that the addition of the filler does not cause a significant change in either the temperature of the relaxation or its activation energy, which suggests the presence of weak interactions between the filler and matrix
An improvement in mechanical properties was observed in thermoplastic polyurethane, and the incorporation of 3 wt.% of ultrathin graphene sheets improves the storage modulus, shear viscosity, and thermal stability of the material

Summary

Introduction

Graphene is a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a two-dimensional (2D) carbon honeycomb lattice. The incorporation of graphene particles into polymer matrices promises to produce composites that possess unusual properties [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. A low electrical percolation threshold can be achieved with graphene sheets. An improvement in mechanical properties was observed in thermoplastic polyurethane, and the incorporation of 3 wt.% of ultrathin graphene sheets improves the storage modulus (by 300%), shear viscosity (by 150%), and thermal stability of the material. Compared to other carbon-based fillers, the graphene-based nanopellets exhibited the best actuation behavior [20]. This result highlights the potential of these elastomer-based graphene composites

Methods

Results

Conclusion