PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF EXFOLIATED GRAPHITE NANOCOMPOSITES BY VARIATION OF GRAPHITE SURFACE FUNCTIONALITY

摘要

The physical and transport properties of epoxy/graphite nanocomposites are highly dependent on the extent of graphite surface modification. Increased oxidation promotes bonding with the matrix polymer, but at the expense of conductivity. Therefore, it is critical that the polymer-graphite system is tailored to meet multiple property criteria. Three graphite samples of varying functionalization were used in this study. XPS data shows a range of 1percent to 13percent oxygen content in the samples. The chemical treatments affected both graphite platelet and agglomerate sizes, therefore BET surface area characterization was performed on all samples. By optimizing the nanocomposite interface, improved mechanical and transport properties were obtained. The results indicate graphite dispersion can increase epoxy resin toughness by up to 60percent as well as increase electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude.