formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, silicone, vinyl ester, cyanate ester, unsaturated polyester resin, etc. The properties of thermoset materials can be further improved by reinforcing them with fi llers, most commonly used being clays, carbon nanotubes, and graphene nanoplatelets.
GrapheneGraphene is a fundamental building block of all graphitic forms of carbon and consists of a single layer of sp 2 -hybridized carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. A single defect-free graphene layer has Young's modulus of 1.0 TPa, intrinsic strength 42 N m −1 , thermal conductivity 4840-5300 W (m K) −1 , electron mobility exceeding 25 000 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , excellent gas impermeability and specifi c surface area of 2630 m 2 g −1 . [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] On incorporation into polymers, the mechanical, thermal, as well as electrical properties of the polymeric materials are significantly improved. [ 3,[12][13][14][15] The geometry differs with size and number of atomic layers, which determines the aspect ratio and the specifi c surface area. Generally speaking, GNSs have higher specifi c surface area than CNTs, thus, having higher potential of property enhancement in Graphene has resulted in signifi cant research effort to generate polymer nanocomposites with improved mechanical, thermal as electrical properties as compared to pure polymers. A large number of studies have been undertaken using different graphene derivatives, fi ller loadings, synthesis methods, and so on to obtain optimum fi ller dispersion as well as fi ller-matrix interactions, which are crucial for achieving signifi cant enhancement in the properties, especially at low fi ller fraction. This review summarizes the mechanical and thermal properties of numerous studies carried out for the property enhancements of commercially relevant thermosetting materials such as epoxy, polyurethane, natural rubber, melamine formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, silicones, vinyl ester, cyanate ester, and unsaturated polyester resin.
