Melt-Mixed 3D Hierarchical Graphene/Polypropylene Nanocomposites with Low Electrical Percolation Threshold

Straightforward Strategy Toward In Situ Water-Phase Exfoliation and Improved Interfacial Adhesion to Fabricate High-Performance Polypropylene/Graphene Nanocomposites

Graphene is a potential candidate for achieving high-performance and multifunctional polypropylene (PP) composites. However, the complex manufacturing process and low dispersibility of graphene, as well as poor interfacial adhesion between graphene and polypropylene chains, stifle progress on large-scale production and applications of graphene/polypropylene composites. Here, we develop a strategy of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) latex-assisted graphene exfoliation and melt blending to address the key challenges facing in industrial production. The surface property of the graphitic precursor is well-designed to achieve a high graphene exfoliation yield of ∼100% and induce abundant hydrogen bonding between the obtained mild-oxidized graphene (MOG) sheets and MAPP chains. Therefore, the MAPP-modified MOG can homogeneously disperse in the PP matrix and exhibits an excellent interfacial compatibility with the polymer. The addition of 5 wt % MOG results in simultaneous increase in the initial decomposition temperature, crystallization temperature, tensile strength, and Young's modulus by 43.2, 11.4 °C, 21.5, and 50.7%, respectively, and the electrical conductivity increases to 0.02 S·m-1. This work illustrates a practical solution to low-cost, eco-friendly, and feasible industrial production of graphene/PP composites through synchronous exfoliation and interfacial modification of graphene.

Isotropic Gels of Cellulose Nanocrystals Grafted with Dialkyl Groups: Influence of Surface Group Topology from Nonlinear Oscillatory Shear

Attractive (non-self-assembling) aqueous cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) suspensions were topologically tailored into isotropic gels through the surface grafting of dialkyl groups. We thus focus on the influence of CNC concentration, including for pristine CNC, surface linker branching, branching degree, and the influence of side group size and branch-on-branch surface-grafted groups. The resulting mobility and strength of interaction in particle-particle interaction mediated by the surface groups was investigated from a rheological point of view. The emphasis is on nonlinear material parameters from Fourier-transform rheology and stress decomposition analysis. The results show that nonlinear material parameters are more sensitive than linear viscoelastic parameters to the onset of weakly interconnected networks in pristine CNC isotropic suspensions. All surface-modified CNC suspensions resulted in isotropic gels. The nonlinear material parameters were found to be broadly sensitive to CNC concentration, branching, degree of branching and surface-grafted linkers' length. However, the length of the grafted chains and the degree of branching were the primary factors influencing the nonlinear material response. Furthermore, the results showed evidence of two strain amplitude ranges with distinct nonlinear signatures that could be attributed to the disruption of weak network connection points and to distortions of more dense (aggregate) network regions, respectively.

Geometrical and physical effects of nanofillers on percolation and electrical conductivity of polymer carbon-based nanocomposites: a general micro-mechanical model

A micro-mechanical model was developed to describe the electrical percolation and effective electrical conductivity of nanocomposites containing fillers with different shapes such as graphene nanoplatelets, carbon black, and carbon nanotubes. The fillers are considered to be an oblate or short cylindrical shape for graphene nanoplatelets, a spherical or spheroidal shape for carbon blacks, and a prolate or long cylindrical shape for carbon nanotubes. The effects of the filler shape, filler size, filler aspect ratios, the thickness of the interphase layer, the conductivity of the filler, the conductivity of the interphase layer, the conductivity of the matrix, volume fractions, quantum tunneling distance, and tunneling barrier height have been examined. This modified mean field model well describes the electrical properties of nanocomposites in the whole range of volume fractions for a variety of experimental results with various reinforcements. Also, it reproduces the very sharp behavior of the percolation transition well around the percolation threshold. The results show that nanocomposites containing fillers with an aspect ratio of 10^-2 < M < 10² and a volume fraction of ϕ_f < 0.3 show an insulating behavior while exhibiting a metallic behavior in the ranges M < 10^-2 and M > 10². This model produces variations in the percolation threshold in terms of the aspect ratio as a parabolic curve that can be used to predict the percolation threshold of nanocomposites with various fillers. The present general model can provide a new insight to design conductive polymer nanocomposites with the desired features and specific applications.

Crystallisation Kinetics and Associated Electrical Conductivity Dynamics of Poly(Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) Nanocomposites in the Melt State

Nanocomposite systems comprised of a poly(ethylene vinyl acetate) (EVA) matrix and carbon black (CB) or graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were used to investigate conductivity and crystallisation dynamics using a commercially relevant melt-state mixing process. Crystallisation kinetics and morphology, as investigated by DSC and SEM, turn out to depend on the interplay of (i) the interphase interactions between matrix and filler, and (ii) the degree of filler agglomeration. For the GNP-based systems, an almost constant conductivity value was observed for all compositions upon cooling, something not observed for the CB-based compositions. These conductivity changes reflect structural and morphological changes that can be associated with positive and negative thermal expansion coefficients. GNP-based systems were observed to exhibit a percolation threshold of approximately 2.2 vol%, lower than the 4.4 vol% observed for the CB-based systems.

Additive Manufactured Poly(ε-caprolactone)-graphene Scaffolds: Lamellar Crystal Orientation, Mechanical Properties and Biological Performance

Understanding the mechano-biological coupling mechanisms of biomaterials for tissue engineering is of major importance to assure proper scaffold performance in situ. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to establish correlations between biomaterials, their processing conditions, and their mechanical behaviour, as well as their biological performance. With this work, it was possible to infer a correlation between the addition of graphene nanoparticles (GPN) in a concentration of 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75% (w/w) (GPN0.25, GPN0.5, and GPN0.75, respectively) in three-dimensional poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based scaffolds, the extrusion-based processing parameters, and the lamellar crystal orientation through small-angle X-ray scattering experiments of extruded samples of PCL and PCL/GPN. Results revealed a significant impact on the scaffold's mechanical properties to a maximum of 0.5% of GPN content, with a significant improvement in the compressive modulus of 59 MPa to 93 MPa. In vitro cell culture experiments showed the scaffold's ability to support the adhesion and proliferation of L929 fibroblasts (fold increase of 28, 22, 23, and 13 at day 13 (in relation to day 1) for PCL, GPN0.25, GPN0.5, and GPN0.75, respectively) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (seven-fold increase for all sample groups at day 21 in relation to day 1). Moreover, the cells maintained high viability, regular morphology, and migration capacity in all the different experimental groups, assuring the potential of PCL/GPN scaffolds for tissue engineering (TE) applications.

Investigation on the Properties and on the Photo-Oxidation Behaviour of Polypropylene/Fumed Silica Nanocomposites

This work investigates the effects of very small amounts of fumed silica on the morphology and on the rheological and mechanical behaviour of polypropylene nanocomposites and on their photo-oxidation behaviour. Polypropylene nanocomposites were prepared using a twin-screw corotating extruder with 0, 1 and 2 wt/wt% of SiO₂. Morphological, mechanical, thermomechanical and rheological properties were examined. It was found that the viscosity of the matrix is reduced by the presence of the silica nanoparticles, suggesting a poor adhesion between the two phases and probably some lubricating effect. On the contrary, the mechanical and, in particular, the thermomechanical properties of the matrix are considerably improved by the presence of the silica. In particular, elastic modulus and tensile strength increases remarkably, and this effect becomes more and more remarkable with an increasing temperature. As for the photo-oxidation behaviour, the presence of silica improves the photostability of the polypropylene matrix. This effect has been attributed to both the barrier to the oxygen and to the absorbance of the UV radiation from the silica nanoparticles. Finally, no significant effect of the silica nanoparticles has been put in evidence on the crystallisation behaviour of the polypropylene. As for the effect of the silica content, the difference in the properties of the two nanocomposites is relatively small and all the measured properties depend much less than linearly with its amount. This has been correlated with the reaggregation of the nanoparticles that, having a larger size, decrease the contact area between the matrix and the filler.

Polypropylene/graphene nanoplatelets nanocomposites with high conductivity via solid-state shear mixing

The research on facile, low-cost, and green process for the uniform dispersion of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) into polymer matrix has always been a considerable challenge in practical applications. The Van der Waals interaction between graphene layers can easily cause aggregation of the nanofillers. Here, we propose a new method to solve this problem by involving solid-state shear mixing to obtain a well-dispersed nanocomposite. The comprehensive properties of nanocomposite, including antistatic properties, mechanical properties, and thermal stability, can be significantly enhanced by this method. The surface resistivity of the nanocomposite can be up to 2.4 × 107 Ω sq−1 under 1 wt% content of GNPs, which is significantly better than the value obtained by conventional melting compounding and meets the required standard of less than 3 × 108 Ω sq−1 for actual application antistatic materials. The impact strength of the nanocomposite increased by 120.8% when compared with neat PP. At the same time, the heat distortion temperature and initial decomposition temperature of the nanocomposite with only 0.5 wt% content of GNPs are improved by 11.7°C and 110°C, respectively. In addition, GNPs is a heterogeneous nucleating agent that leads PP to emerge β crystal form. This study provides an effective and practical reference for the broad-scale industrial preparation of polymer-based graphene nanocomposites.

Mechanical Behavior of Melt-Mixed 3D Hierarchical Graphene/Polypropylene Nanocomposites

The mechanical properties of novel low percolation melt-mixed 3D hierarchical graphene/polypropylene nanocomposites are analyzed in this study. The analysis spans a broad range of techniques and time scales, from impact to tensile, dynamic mechanical behavior, and creep. The applicability of the time-temperature superposition principle and its limitations in the construction of the master curve for the isotactic polypropylene (iPP)-based graphene nanocomposites has been verified and presented. The Williams-Landel-Ferry method has been used to evaluate the dynamics and also Cole-Cole curves were presented to verify the thermorheological character of the nanocomposites. Short term (quasi-static) tensile tests, creep, and impact strength measurements were used to evaluate the load transfer efficiency. A significant increase of Young's modulus with increasing filler content indicates reasonably good dispersion and adhesion between the iPP and the filler. The Young's modulus results were compared with predicted modulus values using Halpin-Tsai model. An increase in brittleness resulting in lower impact strength values has also been recorded.

Barrier Properties of GnP-PA-Extruded Films

It is generally known that significant improvements in the properties of nanocomposites can be achieved with graphene types currently commercially available. However, so far this is only possible on a laboratory scale. Thus, the aim of this study was to transfer results from laboratory scale experiments to industrial processes. Therefore, nanocomposites based on polyamide (PA) and graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) were prepared in order to produce membranes with improved gas barrier properties, which are characterized by reduced permeation rates of helium. First, nanocomposites were prepared with different amounts of commercial availably graphene nanoplatelets using a semi-industrial-scale compounder. Subsequently, films were produced by compression molding at different temperatures, as well as by flat film extrusion. The extruded films were annealed at different temperatures and durations. In order to investigate the effect of thermal treatment on barrier properties in correlation to thermal, structural, and morphological properties, the films were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), optical microscopy (OM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), melt rheology measurements, and permeation measurements. In addition to structural characterization, mechanical properties were investigated. The results demonstrate that the permeation rate is strongly influenced by the processing conditions and the filler content. If the filler content is increased, the permeation rate is reduced. The annealing process can further enhance this effect.