Chemically Reduced Graphene Oxide-Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Nanocomposites: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications in Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Abstract

In this study, a nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanofiller-reinforcement poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) matrix was prepared via the melt blending method. The flexibility of PLA was improved by blending the polymer with a PEG plasticizer as a second polymer. To enhance the electromagnetic interference shielding properties of the nanocomposite, different RGO wt % were combined with the PLA/PEG blend. Using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction, the structural, microstructure, and morphological properties of the polymer and the RGO/PLA/PEG nanocomposites were examined. These studies showed that the RGO addition did not considerably affect the crystallinity of the resulting nanomaterials. Thermal analysis (TGA) reveals that the addition of RGO highly improved the thermal stability of PLA/PEG nanocomposites. The dielectric properties and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of the synthesized nanocomposites were calculated and showed a higher SE total value than the target value (20 dB). On the other hand, the results showed an increased power loss by increasing the frequency and conversely decreased with an increased percentage of filler.

Biodegradable Poly (lactic acid)/Poly (ethylene glycol) Reinforced Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Fabrication, Characterization, Properties, and Applications

“…The results show that the change at EMI SE leads to shifting materials behavior, which is the manifestation of change of intrinsic properties of the nanocomposites, i.e., the nanocomposites conversion from a state to another status with different properties [40]. For EMI shielding efficiency, the electrical behaviors of the material are very important, since they are responsible for interacting with the electromagnetic wave, where the total EMI SE is affected by the number of mobile charge carriers provided by the filler network in the composites and mesh size [41]. However, the effective utilization of MWCNTs for fabricating nanocomposites depends strongly on the homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs throughout the PLA/PEG polymer matrix without destroying their integrity.…”

Antibacterial Activities of Aliphatic Polyester Nanocomposites with Silver Nanoparticles and/or Graphene Oxide Sheets

“…Nevertheless, RGO finds attractive applications in electronics, optoelectronics, composite materials and energy-storage devices [104]. It is also commonly used as a filler material for polymers to form functional polymer nanocomposites and bionanocomposites [47,105,106,107,108,109]. The disadvantage of this chemical reduction strategy is the use of highly toxic hydrazine and sodium borohydride.…”

Dielectric, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of l,d-Poly(Lactic Acid) Modified by 4′-Pentyl-4-Biphenylcarbonitrile and Single Walled Carbon Nanotube

“…However, among disadvantages of l , d -PLA the most important ones are low glass transition temperature, low thermal stability, high brittleness and low crystallization rate. Binary and ternary mixtures or blends were created to improved selected properties of l , d -PLA and examples of some components are listed:a low molecular weight plasticizer, for example, acetyl tributyl citrate [30,31];polymers such as: poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) [32,33] poly(butylene succinate) [34,35], poly(hydroxy butyrate) [36,37], polyaniline with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as flexible free-standing electrode for supercapacitors [38];carbon nanotubes [39,40,41,42,43,44,45];graphene and graphene oxide [46,47,48];liquid crystalline poly [4,4′-bis(6-hydroxyhexyloxy) biphenyl phenylsuccinate] as functional chain to copolymerize with PLA, towards improve the flexibility of PLA and caused interactions with multiwalled carbon nanotubes via π–π interaction [49];magnesium as filament based 3D printing [50];TiO 2 for antibacterial packaging [51];ZnO as potential antimicrobial food packaging materials [52];high-density polyethylene/carbon black composites as electrically conductive composites with a low percolation threshold [53]. …”