Exfoliated Graphene Leads to Exceptional Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composite Films

Abstract

Polymers with superior mechanical properties are desirable in many applications. In this work, polyethylene (PE) films reinforced with exfoliated thermally reduced graphene oxide (TrGO) fabricated using a roll-to-roll hot-drawing process are shown to have outstanding mechanical properties. The specific ultimate tensile strength and Young's modulus of PE/TrGO films increased monotonically with the drawing ratio and TrGO filler fraction, reaching up to 3.2 ± 0.5 and 109.3 ± 12.7 GPa, respectively, with a drawing ratio of 60× and a very low TrGO weight fraction of 1%. These values represent by far the highest reported to date for a polymer/graphene composite. Experimental characterizations indicate that as the polymer films are drawn, TrGO fillers are exfoliated, which is further confirmed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Exfoliation increases the specific area of the TrGO fillers in contact with the PE matrix molecules. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the PE−TrGO interaction is stronger than the PE−PE intermolecular van der Waals interaction, which enhances load transfer from PE to TrGO and leverages the ultrahigh mechanical properties of TrGO.

Thermal Transport in Polymers: A Review

“…82 A recent study on drawn graphene/PE films, however, showed that adding graphene into PE can facilitate crystallization of the PE matrix. 95 Polymer composites can be drawn to achieve higher matrix crystallinity, but it was reported that for composite polymer fibers, too large a drawing ratio will lead to a decrease of filler content per volume, which leads to loss of high thermal conductivity fillers and a decrease of overall thermal conductivity. 90 In drawing Ag/PU nanofibers, with small strains, the average distance among embedded silver nanoparticles will decrease, which increases the overall thermal conductivity by forming more heat-conducting pathways.…”

Study on structural and functional properties of porous SiO2 core‐shell construction/polyethylene nanocomposites with enhanced interfacial interaction

“…The typical interfacial interaction plays an important role in regulating the mechanical properties of a composite. [8][9][10] Fan et al 11 incorporated fluorinated graphite (GrF) into an epoxy matrix to obtain the GrF/epoxy composite. The composite showed a significant increase in strength and toughness when the GrF loading fraction is less than 1 wt%.…”

Physical Origin of Distinct Mechanical Properties of Polymer Tethered Graphene Nanosheets Reinforced Polymer Nanocomposites Revealed by Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations

“…[14,[28][29][30][31] The oriented arrangement of GNs and the interaction between GNs and polymers is of crucial importance in determining the performance of all aspects. In the previous work of Pang et al, [32] the lightweight polyethylene (PE) composite films reinforced with exfoliated thermally reduced graphene oxide (TrGO) fabricated from by using a roll-to-roll hot-drawing process were shown to possess the excellent mechanical properties. The specific ultimate tensile strength and Young's modulus reaches up to 3.2 ± 0.5 and 109.3 ± 12.7 GPa, respectively, with a drawing ratio of 60× and only 1 wt% loading of TrGO, which represent by far the highest reported to date for a polymer/graphene.…”