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Effect of interface modification on PMMA/graphene nanocomposites

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Abstract

Graphene platelets (GnPs) were surface modified with a long-chain surfactant B200, and then compounded with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). B200 provided an anchor into GnPs and a bridge into the matrix, thus creating molecular entanglement between matrix and GnPs. The interface modification promoted the dispersion of GnPs, as no aggregates of GnPs were observed on the fracture surface of the modified composites, in sharp contrast with the unmodified composites. Although GnPs formed clusters in the matrix, bilayer graphene was readily observed under TEM in randomly selected regions; it showed high structural integrity under diffraction pattern. The addition of 2.7 vol% m-GnPs produced 32.8 % improvement in the flexural modulus of PMMA as compared to 9.0 % by unmodified GnPs. At 1.1 vol%, the interface-modified composite showed a 19.6 % improvement in the absorption resistance to ethanol, in comparison with 3.8 % for the unmodified composites. The addition of 2.7 vol% m-GnPs improved fracture toughness of PMMA by 79.2 %, while GnPs enhanced it by 23.9 %.

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Acknowledgement

JM and QM appreciate assistance and help from Matt Zoina and also thank Animesh Basak, Angus Netting and John Terlet for technical support at Adelaide Microscopy. CW would like to acknowledge the support by an Australian Research Council Discovery project (DP140100778).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5095, Australia

    Qingshi Meng, Sherif Araby, Nasser Saber & Jun Ma

  2. Mawson Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5095, Australia

    Qingshi Meng, Nobuyuki Kawashima & Jun Ma

  3. Department of Energy Application Engineering, Far East University, Tainan city, 744, Taiwan

    Hsu-Chiang Kuan

  4. Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Chun H. Wang

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  1. Qingshi Meng
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Correspondence to Jun Ma.

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Meng, Q., Kuan, HC., Araby, S. et al. Effect of interface modification on PMMA/graphene nanocomposites. J Mater Sci 49, 5838–5849 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8278-0

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