Thermal behaviour of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) reinforced nylon 66 nanocomposites were investigated using differential calorimetric scanning (DSC), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The influence of low content GNP on thermal properties of GNP/nylon 66 nanocomposites was studied for low GNP content (0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%). DSC results indicate that addition of GNP increases crystallization temperature and degree of crystallinity of the nanocomposites. Thermal stability and mass loss were studied through TGA analysis. The results show that thermal stability and weight loss of GNP/nylon 66 nanocomposites slightly improve with the GNP addition with an increase in the onset of degradation temperature as much as 10 °C. DMA analysis shows that GNP in the nylon 66 matrix act similar to plasticizer; it decreases the storage modulus and glass transition temperatures of the nanocomposites. GNP addition also reduces tan δ indicating an improvement in the damping property of the nanocomposites. Overall, this study concludes that a minimal amount of 0.3 wt% of GNP is effective in improving the thermal properties of nylon 66 composites.

This paper reports on the synthesis of iron oxide nanowires using thermal oxidation of iron. The α-Fe2O3 (hematite) and Fe3O4 (magnetite) were successfully formed using this method. The morphological observation was done through the FESEM, while the XRD, EDX and Raman spectroscopy were used to determine the physical and structural properties of the produced nanostructures. It was found that the peaks intensities relative to the hematite, increased with the extent of oxidation period. The growth and final morphology of hematite was significantly controlled by the heating duration. A surface diffusion mechanism for nano-hematite growth was then proposed to account for the growth phenomena of this nanostructured formation.

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) surface modification was performed by using a simplified dual-action of ultrasonication and high speed mechanical shearing. This approach induced a non-covalent polymeric wrapping interaction between GNPs surfaces with IGEPAL-C0890 (ethoxylated nonyl phenol with 40 moles ethylene oxide). Various characterization tools like FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, FESEM and TEM were utilized to confirm the success of the surface treatment. The efficacy and suitability of non-covalent treated GNPs-C0890 as nanofiller reinforcement and inorganic compatibilizer in NR/EPDM rubber blends were evaluated. Effects of GNPs-C0890 loading variation to the mechanical tensile properties and fracture morphologies of NR/EPDM nanocomposites rubber blend were studied. It is interesting to note that the GNPs-C0890 was not able to reinforce NR/EPDM blend at a higher loading addition (≥ 3.00 wt.%) due to the agglomeration and crosslinking retardation phenomena by phase separation. However, at a lower loading (≤ 1.00 wt.%), the blend strengthening effects promise the improvement at about 64.55% of tensile strength and 14.20% of elongation percentage as compared than unfilled NR/EPDM blend. Obvious fractured morphological changes due to the absence and presence of GNPs provide hints on the role of GNPs treatment in effecting the NR/EPDM rubber blend mechanical properties.

In this study, a mixture of activated carbon (AC) and graphene (G) was coated onto the stainless steel (SS) mesh to produce an electrode for the electrochemical capacitor (EC). Different materials, such as carbon nanotube (CNT) mixed with G, were also used in this experiment to compare the electrochemical properties of both electrodes. The electrochemical properties of the electrode were determined by using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The CV curves of the AC/G electrodes showed good capacitive behaviour, and the highest capacitance values obtained for AC/G and CNT/G electrodes in 1M H2SO4 at 1 mVs-1 were 13 Fg-1 and 4.34 Fg-1, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest capacitance values obtained in 6M KOH at 1 mVs-1 were 14 Fg-1 and 12.07 Fg-1 for AC/G and CNT/G electrodes, respectively.

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