Preparation and characterization of exfoliated graphite and its styrene butadiene rubber nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites consisting of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) reinforced with the modified-graphite and natural-graphite with concentrations of 5 wt% were fabricated. Processing techniques such as acid treatment, thermal shock, sonication were employed in the fabrication of modified-graphite. The graphite platelets oxidized using sulfuric and nitric acids were analyzed by the Raman scattering, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FT-IR results indicate the presence of acid groups in the treated samples, and Raman spectroscopy of acid-graphite platelets further corroborate the formation of surface defect due to the introduction of functional groups. However, the structure of XRD peaks did not change irrespective of processing techniques. The SBR-based nanocomposites were characterized using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), rheometer, Instron tensile machine, thermal and electrical analyser. The results showed that nanocomposites onto acid-graphite platelets enhanced mechanical properties and fatigue properties of nanocomposites compared to those containing natural-graphite due to the increase in the interaction between the polymer and the modified-graphite. And the dynamic properties of nanocomposites had no influence according to the processing techniques. Also, thermal and electrical properties of nanocomposites using acid-graphite platelets were enhanced due to the broadened specific surface by the acid treatment.