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Polymer/carbon nanofillers films fabricated by latex technology
Author(s) -
Mechrez G.,
Suckeveriene R. Y.,
Segal E.,
Narkis M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.3328
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , nanocomposite , polymer , graphene , composite material , dispersion (optics) , polymer nanocomposite , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , physics , engineering , optics
This research presents a generic fabrication method for tailoring polymer/carbon nanofillers composites with controlled architecture and composition. Two types of common carbon nanofillers, i.e. multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and graphene nanosheets, are finely dispersed in an aqueous dispersion of polyacrylate followed by a microfiltration process. The second step allows preserving the high dispersion level of the nanofillers within the polymer matrix in the resulting solid films/layers. This study aims to investigate the structure–property relationship of the polyacrylate/nanofiller films, fabricated by the combination of latex technology and microfiltration. The polyacrylate/MWNTs system is studied over the entire MWNTs composition (0 to 100 wt%) and is shown to exhibit a structural transition; from a nanocomposite structure, in which the nanotubes are dispersed within a continuous polymer matrix, to a porous MWNTs macrostructure containing segregated polymer domains. This structural transition is corroborated with the films‐specific surface area values and the mechanical properties versus the MWNTs content. The percolation threshold of the studied polyacrylate/MWNTs systems is obtained at MWNTs content of ~0.04 wt%, an order of magnitude lower compared with cast films, fabricated by conventional latex technology. Polyacrylate/graphene nanosheet nanocomposites that are fabricated using the same method also demonstrate a structural transition from nanofiller/polymer composite material to graphene macrostructures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.