In this article we report the successful manufacture of a novel functionalized graphene sheet (FGS)/ silicone porous nanocomposite. Both the cellular microstructure and the properties of the porous nanocomposite were investigated in detail. The thermal properties show great stability and heat dissipation efficiency, highlighting their potential in applications with intense thermal requirements. Additionally, compression measurements indicate that there was a favourable interaction between the graphene nanosheets and the polymer.

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This work addresses the development of a novel user-interactive image analysis computed technique to determine the main characteristics of the cellular structure of cellular materials with any density, morphology, and/or cell size from micrographs obtained from any source—scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, etc. The specific analyzed parameters are cell size (mean cell diameter), cell anisotropy, cell size distribution, and cell density. A comparison with several conventionally used methods is also presented in this work. The development of such application offers a quick (<3 min per micrograph) and complete characterization of the cellular structure, with reproducible results and good agreement with the typical manual measurement methods.

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SYNOPSISTalc-filled polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared by extrusion in a wide composition range (0-40 wt %). T o improve the affinity relation between talc and the PP matrix, we modified the talc surface with silane coupling agents. Differential scanning calorimetry investigations on test samples, prepared by injection moulding, revealed that the talc content and its surface modification had a pronounced effect on the crystallization behavior of the filled PP composites. The experimental results indicate that a talc concentration of 2 wt % strongly affects the nonisothermal crystallization process of the PP, especially when talc is silane treated. Isothermal crystallization experiments on samples with minimum amounts of talc (2 wt %) revealed an improved nucleation activity with silane-treated talc.