Enhanced properties of UPE/ESOA partially bio-nanocomposites reinforced with chitosan functionalized graphene nanoplatelets: an innovative approach

Abstract

The current study deals with the successful development of chitosan-functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (CS/GNPs) and their dispersion in the unsaturated polyester (UPE)/epoxidized soybean oil acrylate (ESOA) (80:20 w/w) blend system in different compositions of 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 wt%. The resulting nanocomposite mixture was achieved by simple sonication method and pressed into a mould for fabrication of nanocomposite. The whole functionalization and nanocomposite preparation procedure were successfully tracked by FTIR, SEM and TEM. Nanocomposite with 0.5 wt% of CS/GNPs nanofiller has demonstrated it as the better candidate due to its optimum properties. Again for better comparison, a nanocomposite with 0.5 wt% raw GNPs was also fabricated and its properties were studied in detail. This relative study reported lower mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermal and electrical conductivity values for 0.5 wt% raw GNPs than the corresponding CS/GNPs nanofiller-filled nanocomposites. Nanocomposite with 0.5 wt% CS/GNPs showed dramatic enhancement in mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermal and electrical properties as well as reduced corrosion and swelling performance owing to the homogeneous distribution of nanofiller in the blend. Again, the nanocomposite showed the highest thermal and electrical conductivities with the best dielectric strength. Thus, the prepared nanocomposites with optimum nanofiller content might serve as partially biodegradable nanomaterial for applications in nanotechnology engineering, thermal applications, such as circuit boards and electrical applications, such as electronic packaging components, electromechanical devices and electric energy storage devices. This nanocomposite can also find their applications in different corrosive-and solvent-based environments.

Synthesis and Overall Migration Study of Chitosan‐Encapsulated ZnO‐Based ESO Bionanocomposite with Synergistic Antimicrobial Activity for Packaging Purpose.

“…Again an intense peak of ZnO at 440 cm −1 attributed to the stretching of Zn−O bonds. As FTIR analysis of chitosan has been done previously by the author so directly chitosan functionalization of ZnO was performed here [24] . Spectral study of CS‐ZnO is shown in Figure 3(b) which ascribed some new peaks for the stretching vibration of amine and hydroxyl groups at approximately 3400 cm −1 .…”

Application of Biodegradable and Biocompatible Nanocomposites in Electronics: Current Status and Future Directions

“…Aside from the nanocomposites previously discussed, there are many other biodegradable and biocompatible nanocomposites used to enhance electronic conductors, which will not be carefully discussed here [174,175,176,177,178,179,180].…”