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Preparation and characterization of melt‐blended graphene nanosheets–poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites with enhanced properties
Author(s) -
El Achaby M.,
Arrakhiz F. Z.,
Vaudreuil S.,
Essassi E. M.,
Qaiss A.,
Bousmina M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.38081
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , thermal stability , dispersion (optics) , composite material , graphene , rheology , crystallization , flexural strength , fluoride , ultimate tensile strength , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , physics , optics , engineering
Nanocomposites of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with chemically reduced graphene nanosheets (GNs) were prepared by melt mixing method and their structure and morphology characterized by SEM analysis. The addition of GNs in the PVDF matrix resulted in changes of the crystallization and melting behaviors. Furthermore, increasing GNs content led to improved thermal stability of the PVDF nanocomposites in air and nitrogen, as well as significant increase in tensile and flexural properties. The nanocomposites' rheological behavior is also affected by the GNs' content. Using oscillatory rheology to monitor the GNs' dispersion, it was found that as the GNs loading increase, the Newtonian behavior disappears at low frequency. This suggests a viscoelastic behavior transition from liquid‐like to solid‐like, with greater GNs content and more homogeneous dispersion resulting in a stronger solid‐like and nonterminal behavior. By using the melt mixing method to disperse GNs, the properties of PVDF are enhanced due to the better dispersion and distribution of GNs throughout the matrix. This improvement could broaden the applications for PVDF nanocomposites. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013