Abstract
The latest trends in technologies has shifted the focus to developing innovative methods for comprehensive property enhancement of the polymer composites with facile and undemanding experimental techniques. This work reports an elementary technique to fabricate high-performance unsaturated polyester-based nanocomposites. It focuses on the interactive effect of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS)-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) within the unsaturated polymermatrix. The hybrid framework of POSS-functionalized graphene oxide has been configured via peptide bonding between the aminopropyl isobutyl POSS and graphene oxide. The synergistic effect of POSS and graphene oxide paved the way for a mechanism to inculcate a hybrid framework within the unsaturated polyester (UP) via in situ polymerization to develop UP/GO-POSS nanocomposites. The surface-appended POSS within the graphene oxide boosted its dispersion in the UP matrix, furnishing an enhancement in tensile strength of the UP/GO-POSS composites by 61.9%, thermal decomposition temperature (10% mass loss) by 69.8 °C and electrical conductivity by 108 S/m, in contrast to pure UP. In particular, the homogenous influence of the POSS-modified GO could be vindicated in the surging of the limiting oxygen index (%) in the as-prepared nanocomposites. The inclusive property amelioration vindicates the use of fabricated nanocomposites as high-performance nanomaterials in electrotechnical applications.
Highlights
The current revolution in polymer technologies reflects the role of thermosetting plastics in their advancement
The interlayer distance within the Graphene oxide (GO) increased to 1.56 nm, which reiterates the exfoliation of GO due to the covalent bonding between polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS)-NH2 onto the surface of GO [39,40]
The hybrid network of POSS-GO was configured via peptide bonding
Summary
The current revolution in polymer technologies reflects the role of thermosetting plastics in their advancement. The hybrid POSS material has a significant role in the property enhancement of the polymer such as thermal stability, mechanical strength, flame retardancy etc., as shown in the works reported earlier [20,21,22,23,24,25]. This led to a logical inference of amalgamating the stellar properties of GO by modifying it with POSS. The thermal conductivity enhancement within the POSS-GO-reinforced UP has paved the path for less heat dissipation and appropriate thermal management in electrotechnical devices [36]
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