Abstract
Current studies on nanocomposites have focused on their multifunctional properties and their industrial production. In this work, polyetheretherketone (PEEK)/graphene nanoplate (GNP) composites were produced by a direct semi-industrial process. Different percentages of untreated GNP (1, 5, and 10 wt.%) were added to PEEK by employing melt-compounding followed by injection-moulding. Despite the semi-industrial approach used, the modulus, strength, and Poisson coefficient of the nanocomposites (1 and 5 wt.%) were not significantly affected by the addition of GNP. However, there was a slight decrease in the strength at 10 wt.% GNP. Our study also shows that the thermal conductivities of PEEK/GNP composites are up to 2.5 times higher than that of pure PEEK.
Highlights
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a high-performance, semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer that is used in the aeronautics, medical, and chemical industries as it has excellent mechanical properties including good thermal stability and chemical inertness [1, 2, 3]
Solution intercalation gave the best results in terms of thermal conductivity (0.35 W/mK for 1 wt.% graphene oxide mixed by solution intercalation [5] versus 0.44 W/mK for 10 wt.% of graphene nanoplates (GNPs) mixed by melt-intercalation [22])
The morphology of the as-received graphene nanoplatelets was characterised by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
Summary
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a high-performance, semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer that is used in the aeronautics, medical, and chemical industries as it has excellent mechanical properties including good thermal stability and chemical inertness [1, 2, 3]. Solution intercalation is based on a solvent system where the polymer is soluble; this helps the reinforcement dispersion, whereas in melt-intercalation, the molten polymer penetrates the graphene layers of the agglomerates, avoiding re-agglomeration [24]. Of these two methods, solution intercalation gave the best results in terms of thermal conductivity (0.35 W/mK for 1 wt.% graphene oxide mixed by solution intercalation [5] versus 0.44 W/mK for 10 wt.% of GNP mixed by melt-intercalation [22]). The fracture surfaces and the dispersion of graphene within the matrix of samples were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
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