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pps proceeding
Symposium: S09 - Polymer nanocomposites
Oral Presentation
 
 

Graphene Oxide-Based Polymer Nanocomposites: Processing and Characterization

Fechine Guilhermino (1), Andrade Ricardo (1)*, Domingues Sergio (1), Souza Eunézio (1), Tavares Maria Inês (2), Nagaoka Danilo (1), Amorin Leice (1), Oliveira Camila (1), Muñoz Pablo (1)

(1) Mackenzie Presbyterian University - São Paulo - Brazil, (2) IMA - Instituto de Macromoléculas Profa. Eloísa Mano - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

When the Nobel Prize of Physics was announced in 2010 the superlatives properties of graphene have taken attention for the academic and industrial purposes. Improvements in strength, electrical and thermal conductive and also impermeability are characteristics that can be observed in polymers by the insertion of graphene. Graphene obtained by liquid exfoliation of graphite and graphene oxide (GO) and/or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) obtained by chemical exfoliation are the best candidates to be used in polymer nanocomposites since the products obtained by these methods are in a large quantity. In both techniques, liquid and chemical, few layers of graphene are dispersed in a solution and the big challenge is to keep the graphene exfoliated when it is added to the polymer matrix during the manufacturing of nanocomposite. Patents and manuscripts have been filed and published, respectively, showing several methods to prepare polymer-graphene nanocomposites (solution mixing, in situ polymerization and melt mixing), however, the scale-up to industrial manufacturing is limited. Melt mixing by using extruders is the one that can be easily moved for industries purposes. Here, we are introducing two different strategies to disperse GO into polymer matrix by using a twin screw extruder and polystyrene as a polymer template. The influence of the methods of GO insertion, processing parameters and GO concentration on the level of particles dispersion and polymer nanocomposite properties were evaluated by mechanical and thermal tests, molecular weight data, rheological measurements, Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray microtomography. The results showed that the two strategies used here to prepare polymer-GO nanocomposite are very efficient in order to obtain a good GO dispersion, and consequently, printing to the polymer excellent properties at very low content of GO (less than 0.5% w/w).