Graphene-based polymer nanocomposite membranes: a review

Abstract

Ever since the discovery of graphene, its potential has been predicted for a number of applications in various fields such as electronics, sensors, environmental decontamination techniques, separations and biomedicine to name a few. Among various such fields, the research in graphene-based nanocomposites membranes is still in its infancy as there is not a significant research published in this field so far. However, interestingly this field is registering an exponentially upward trend recently. This review article provides a brief description of polymer nanocomposite membranes with graphene as one of the most indispensable components in the membranes. In this article, we describe in a systematic and comprehensive manner the most recent research published so far in the nanocomposite membranes with graphene and the most commonly used polymers namely the polysulfone and the cellulose derivatives. This article also describes the main applications of these polymeric membranes in the fuel cells and in water purification processes containing the current literature data as well as the authors' own research.

Influence of graphene nanoscrolls on the crystallization behavior and nano‐mechanical properties of polylactic acid

“…The samples were then cooled to room temperature and heated once again to 180°C at 10°C min −1 . The degree of crystallinity, X c, of samples was determined by where ∆H f is the melting enthalpy, is the melting enthalpy of pure crystalline PLA (100% crystalline polylactide = 93 J g −1 ), and ∆H c is the crystallization enthalpy …”

“…Polylactic acid (PLA), a naturally occurring biodegradable polymer, has attracted significant attention owing to its biocompatibility and biomedical applications . PLA possesses superior optical, physical, mechanical, and barrier properties when compared with commercially available polymers .…”

Influence of graphene nanosheets on stereocomplex crystallization behaviors of star‐shaped poly (D(L)‐lactide) stereoblock copolymer

“…In recent years, graphene nanosheets (GNSs) consisting of one‐atom thick two‐dimensional (2D) graphite layers have attracted considerable attention because of the excellent mechanical properties and high thermal stability . It has been reported that very low GNS content could significantly enhance the crystallization ability and improve the physical properties of polymers .…”

Retarding hydrolytic degradation of polylactic acid: Effect of induced crystallinity and graphene addition

“…It is well known that heat treatment of semi-crystalline polymers has beneficial effects on mechanical properties and solvent resistance since this tends to enhance crystallinity. [22][23][24] Therefore, graphene nanoplatelets were selected as the filler material for this study (see also ref. Nanoplatelets and crystallites both work as impermeable barriers, and a diffusing molecule has to travel a longer, tortuous path around these obstacles.…”