Effects of graphene nanosheets on the dielectric, mechanical, thermal properties, and rheological behaviors of poly(arylene ether nitriles)

Poly(arylene ether nitriles) (PEN) containing various contents of graphene nanosheets (GNs) was prepared via solution‐casting method and investigated for their dielectric, mechanical, thermal, and rheological properties. For PEN/GNs nanocomposite with 5 wt % GNs, the dielectric constant was increased to 9.0 compared with that of neat PEN (3.1) and dielectric losses of all nanocomposites were in the range of 0.019–0.023 at 1 kHz. The tensile modulus and strength were increased about 6 and 14% with 0.5% GNs, respectively. The fracture surfaces of the all PEN/GNs nanocomposites revealed that GNs had good adhesion to PEN matrix. The thermal properties of the nanocomposites showed significant increase with increasing GN loading. For 5 wt % GNs‐reinforced PEN nanocomposite, the temperatures corresponding to a weight loss of 5 wt % ( T d 5 %) and 30 wt % ( T d 30 %) increased by about 20 and 13°C, respectively. Rheological properties of the PEN nanocomposites showed a sudden change with the GN fraction and the percolation threshold was about 1 wt % of GNs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012