Rheology and Physical Characterization of Graphene Nanoplatelet/Poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) Nanocomposites

摘要

Biodegradable poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT)/graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) nanocomposites were prepared and characterized. It was observed that GNP incorporation enhanced the thermal stability, electrical conductivity and Young's modulus of the matrix markedly. Melt flow behaviours of the prepared nanocomposites were investigated via dynamic oscillatory measurements. Viscoelastic properties exhibited significant enhancement with increasing GNP loading. The effect of GNPs was more pronounced in the storage modulus which exhibited weaker frequency dependency in the low frequency region. Rheological percolation threshold of GNPs in PBAT was determined to be in vicinity of 9 wt% at 140 °C. Interestingly, percolation was found to be temperature sensitive, occurring at lower GNP concentrations as the temperature was increased further from the system's melting point.