Non-Isothermal Crystallisation Kinetics of Carbon Black- Graphene-Based Multimodal-Polyethylene Nanocomposites

Abstract

The effect of carbon black (CB) and microwave-induced plasma graphene (g) on the crystallisation kinetics of the multimodal high-density polyethylene was studied under non-isothermal conditions. The non-isothermal crystallisation behaviour of the multimodal-high-density polyethylene (HDPE), containing up to 5 wt.% graphene, was compared with that of neat multimodal-HDPE and its carbon black based nanocomposites. The results suggested that the non-isothermal crystallisation behaviour of polyethylene (PE)-g nanocomposites relied significantly on both the graphene content and the cooling rate. The addition of graphene caused a change in the mechanism of the nucleation and the crystal growth of the multimodal-HDPE, while carbon black was shown to have little effect. Combined Avrami and Ozawa equations were shown to be effective in describing the non-isothermal crystallisation behaviour of the neat multimodal-HDPE and its nanocomposites. The mean activation energy barrier (ΔE), required for the transportation of the molecular chains from the melt state to the growing crystal surface, gradually diminished as the graphene content increased, which is attributable to the nucleating agent effect of graphene platelets. On the contrary, the synergistic effect resulting from the PE-CB nanocomposite decreased the ΔE of the neat multimodal-HDPE significantly at the lowest carbon black content.

Structure and Mechanical Properties of High-Density Polyethylene Composites Reinforced with Glassy Carbon

“…We calculated the degree of crystallinity (X c (%)) for pure HDPE and the composites using Equation (1) [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]: where ΔH m is the experimental melting enthalpy value of sample (J/g) obtained in the second heating DSC cycle, is the mass fraction of the filler, the is the melting enthalpy of 100% perfectly crystalline form of HDPE (293 J/g) [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Enhanced mechanical properties of epoxy‐matrix nanocomposites reinforced with graphene synthesized in atmospheric plasmas

“…[ 7,8 ] Due to these features, GSG is a promising filler material for GNCs. However, there are only few reports of nanocomposites containing graphene powder synthesized in plasmas for use in structural applications, [ 9–14 ] and these studies only focused on nanocomposites with polyethylene [ 9,10 ] and elastomer [ 11–14 ] matrices. Thermosetting resins, such as epoxy, have a broad range of applications where enhancements in mechanical properties are desirable, such as wind turbine blades and aircraft components.…”

Large Improvement in the Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Nanocomposites Based on a Highly Concentrated Graphite Nanoplate/Polyol Masterbatch

“…In the last 20 years, polymeric nanocomposites where the dimensions of fillers are of the order of a nanometer have attracted the attention of material scientists, as the nanocomposites showed superior properties to the conventional composites at low concentration of nanofillers. Nanofillers such as clay, carbon nanotube, graphene, and nanocellulose have been studied for the nanocomposites of different polymers for various applications [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12].…”