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Enhancement of electrical and thermal conductivity of polypropylene by graphene nanoplatelets
Author(s) -
Imran Kazi Al,
Lou Jianzhong,
Shivakumar Kunigal N.
Publication year - 2018
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.45833
Subject(s) - polypropylene , materials science , graphene , composite material , percolation threshold , coating , thermal conductivity , compression molding , extrusion , polymer , percolation (cognitive psychology) , electrical resistivity and conductivity , nanotechnology , mold , engineering , neuroscience , electrical engineering , biology
One of disadvantages of polymer composites is poor electrical and thermal conductivity. As a first step in this direction, graphene‐modified polypropylene polymer is being developed to improve its electrical and thermal conductivity. Two techniques were investigated: surface coating and extrusion. In the case of coating technique, the percolation threshold was found to be 0.5 wt % of graphene and electrical conductivity of polypropylene increased around 13 log cycles. Coating technique breaks the agglomerations due to magnetic stirring followed by sonication and gives homogeneous graphene‐coated polypropylene pellets. When polymer melts under compression molding, the graphene platelets network formed on the surface of polypropylene pellets as well as through‐the‐thickness of the molded disk, which provide continuous network of graphene. However, in extrusion technique, graphene segregated and did not disperse properly in polypropylene. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 45833.