Thermal performance of poly(ethylene disulfide)/expanded graphite nanocomposites

Abstract

In this study, the influences of expanded graphite oxide (EG) nanosheets presence with and without surfactant on structural and thermal performance of poly(ethylene disulfide) (PEDS)-based nanocomposites are investigated. Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) is used as a surfactant for the preparation of modified-EG nanosheets. The structural, morphological, and thermal properties of prepared nanocomposites are studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry techniques, respectively. XRD patterns of nanocomposites reveal that a high degree of expanded graphite nanosheets dispersion is achieved with and without surface modification using in situ polymerization method. Moreover, the presence of immobilized polysulfide chains near the interface region of nanosheets is suggested as a possible reason for the observed increase in the number of semi-crystalline organic fractions in the structure of PEDS via EG nanosheets incorporation. In addition, the morphology of SDBS-modified-EG loaded nanocomposite shows a smoother fracture surface than unmodified-nanosheets reinforced nanocomposite. Therefore, more interactions between nanosheets and polysulfide chains are expected in the structure of unmodified-EG reinforced nanocomposite. Moreover, thermal resistance and degradation kinetics of prepared nanocomposites are studied using thermogravimetric analysis results and degradation activation energy calculations, respectively. The required activation energy for the degradation process of SDBS-EG loaded nanocomposite is about 140 kJ mol−1 lower than the required degradation activation energy of unmodified-nanosheets reinforced nanocomposite.