On the Multi-Functional Behavior of Graphene-Based Nano-Reinforced Polymers.

Konstantina Zafeiropoulou,Xenia Tsilimigkra,Anna Geitona,George Sotiriadis,Christina Kostagiannakopoulou,Vassilis Kostopoulos

doi:10.3390/ma14195828

Konstantina Zafeiropoulou, Xenia Tsilimigkra + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195828

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Abstract

The objective of the present study is the assessment of the impact performance and the concluded thermal conductivity of epoxy resin reinforced by layered Graphene Nano-Platelets (GNPs). The two types of used GNPs have different average thicknesses, <4 nm for Type 1 and 9–12 nm for Type 2. Graphene-based polymers containing different GNP loading contents (0.5, 1, 5, 10, 15 wt.%) were developed by using the three-roll mill technique. Thermo-mechanical (Tg), impact tests and thermal conductivity measurements were performed to evaluate the effect of GNPs content and type on the final properties of nano-reinforced polymers. According to the results, thinner GNPs were proven to be more promising in all studied properties when compared to thicker GNPs of the same weight content. More specifically, the glass transition temperature of nano-reinforced polymers remained almost unaffected by the GNPs inclusion. Regarding the impact tests, it was found that the impact resistance of the doped materials increased up to 50% when 0.5 wt.% Type 1 GNPs were incorporated within the polymer. Finally, the thermal conductivity of doped polymers with 15 wt.% GNPs showed a 130% enhancement over the reference material.

Highlights

In recent years, the use of nanomaterials as fillers in the production of nano-reinforced polymers, has attracted significant interest due to their unique properties
The presence of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) affects the crosslinking density of epoxy by restricting the size of polymer chains, facilitating their movement, the presence of GNPs acts as mobility obstacles
Regarding the Charpy impact properties, it was shown that the impact resistance was remarkably enhanced by up to 50% in the case where Type 1

Summary

Introduction

The use of nanomaterials as fillers in the production of nano-reinforced polymers, has attracted significant interest due to their unique properties. The key factor for the increasing demand of the polymer nanocomposites is their multi-functionality as a result of the nano-metric additives that drastically enhance their performance. In line with this direction, most of the research has focused on polymer nanocomposites based on carbon nanospecies (CNSs). Numerous carbon additives, such as carbon black (CB), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs), have been utilized to enhance the properties of pure polymers [1,2,3,4,5]. GNPs are disk-shaped graphite particles, which comprise two or more graphene layers, resulting in a total thickness of 0.7 to 100 nm

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