Assessment of Mechanical and Electrical Performances of Polylactic Acid/Liquid Natural Rubber/Graphene Platelets Nanocomposites in the Light of Different Graphene Platelets Functionalization Routes

Abstract

The essence core of this study is to investigate the effect of functionalization of graphene platelets (GNPs) and its low loadings of 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 wt% on the chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties of polylactic acid/liquid natural rubber (PLA/LNR) blend prepared by melt blending method. GNPs are treated with amino dodecanoic acid via covalent interaction and Triton X-100 (TX100) via non-covalent interaction to produce ADA-functionalized GNPs (GNP-A) and TX100-functionalized GNPs (GNP-T), respectively. At 0.75 wt% GNPs, the PLA/LNR nanocomposites exhibit the highest tensile strength of 24.38, 35.70, 45.47 MPa for untreated GNPs (GNP-u), GNP-T, and GNP-A, respectively. Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy proves better interaction of treated-GNPs with the matrix, while transmission electron microscopy micrographs have shown that PLA/LNR/GNP-A has the best filler dispersion with minimal stacking and agglomeration found. A remarkable improvement of electrical properties is observed for treated-GNPs nanocomposite with lower percolation threshold value of 0.3 wt% as compared to that of GNP-u nanocomposite (0.4 wt%).

Graphene in rubber formulations: a comprehensive review and performance optimization insights

“…The increase (from 3.39 Å to 3.41 Å) and decrease (from 3.39 Å to 3.36 Å) in interlayer spacing of amino decanoic acid/GNP and Triton X-100/GNP, respectively, confirm the existence of the covalent and non-covalent bonds. 67…”

Effect of the Functional Groups of Polymers on Their Adsorption Behavior on Graphene Oxide Nanosheets

“…[20] Compared to graphene, graphene oxide (GO) is abundant in functional groups, such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, epoxide, and carboxyl, which are important for improving interfacial interactions. [21,22] Different functionalization methods, including noncovalent and covalent modification, [23] have been applied to expand the applications of graphene and GO. [24] Noncovalent and covalent of functionalized graphene composites were reported to possess stable, good electrocatalytic activity and high conductivity.…”

“…[24] Noncovalent and covalent of functionalized graphene composites were reported to possess stable, good electrocatalytic activity and high conductivity. [22,25] To the authors' knowledge, the previous work on polymer nanocomposites was mainly focused on the functionalization of nanoparticles such as silica, [12,13,26] graphene, [22,25,27] and GO, [24] with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane, [28] amine, [12,13,26] amide, thiourea, carbamate functional groups, etc. [29] However, the effect of the functional groups of polymers has not been systematically investigated, which is considered important in affecting the dispersion of nanofiller and the interfacial interactions [30] and so the macroscopic properties of polymer nanocomposites.…”

“…[ 24 ] Non‐covalent and covalent of functionalized graphene composites were reported to possess stable, good electrocatalytic activity and high conductivity. [ 22,25 ]…”

Enhanced strength and toughness of polylactic acid by blending with modified natural rubber having acetate pendant group

“…9 Researchers have made many efforts to overcome these weaknesses of PLA. For this purpose, copolymerization, 10 composite preparation, 7,[11][12][13] and blending with other polymers 14 have been studied. Blending is followed chiefly because it is cost-effective and easy to produce.…”