Carbon nanoparticles/polyvinyl alcohol composites with enhanced optical, thermal, mechanical, and flame‐retardant properties

Abstract

In this work, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is chemically bonded to carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) by a very simple and versatile solution casting method. Five different kinds of CNPs/PVA composite films were prepared; 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 wt% CNPs dispersed in PVA. The as‐prepared samples were characterized using various characterization techniques. The resulting nanocomposites proved to possess homogeneity and better mechanical, thermal, optical, and flame‐retardant properties than pure PVA. Most of the CNPs with average particle size ≤100 nm were homogeneously dispersed in the PVA matrix showing fluorescence in the violet color zone. The crystallinity of the nanocomposites show a decline in the diffraction intensity as compared to pure PVA which results from the dwelling of CNPs inside the gaps of stacked‐layer chains of PVA. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites indicated enhancement in toughness, elastic modulus and tensile strength with an increase in CNPs contents. The assessment for flame‐retardant properties was carried out through cone calorimetry. The results show a decrease in both total heat release rate (THRR) and peak heat release rate (pHRR) of the resulting nanocomposites as compared to pure PVA. The superior properties of the CNPs/PVA composites stemmed from the good interfacial bonding between the CNPs and PVA matrix.

Enhanced flame retardant performance of poly(vinyl alcohol) composites based on phosphorus–metal ion synergistic effect

“…With respect to flame-retardant PVA composites, the APP/SA system shows a larger pHRR reduction (47.2%) and higher LOI value increment (67.8%), which is superior to many reported systems. 3,27,28,[39][40][41][42][43] Due to the low content of SA and APP, the PVA film maintained original tensile strength to a large extent (Fig. 4(e)), which could be ascribed to the interactions of SA with the PVA matrix (e.g., H bonding).…”

Construction of novel regenerated cellulose based foam derived from waste cigarette filters as effective oil adsorbent

“…For the final stage ($438 C), there was also an obvious weight loss for PVA and WCA/PVA-100% due to the degradation of formed residue char. [44][45] These DTG curves can visually reflect the thermal degradation rate of as-prepared samples. As shown in Figure 6b, it can be clearly seen that pure PVA and the sample of WCA exhibit the maximum degradation rate at 248 C and 337 C, and the WCA/PVA composites exhibited a sharp weight loss between the temperature of 248 C and 337 C. However, the decomposition temperature of WCA/PVA composite foam decreased with the increasing of PVA content, and that for the sample of WCA/PVA-100% was much lower than WCA/PVA composites due to the lower decomposition temperature of PVA.…”

Enhancing Polyvinyl Alcohol Nanocomposites with Carboxy-Functionalized Graphene: An In-Depth Analysis of Mechanical, Barrier, Electrical, Antibacterial, and Chemical Properties

“…In addition, several studies focused on fabricating PVA composites with graphene, predominantly for the purpose of measuring conductivity [ 38 , 39 , 40 ], with minimal emphasis on the evaluation of mechanical performance due to the propensity of graphene to reduce the strength of PVA. Consequently, previous research largely concentrated on the use of graphene oxide (GO) for PVA nanocomposites because of its abundance of functional groups [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. However, the high cost of GO presents a significant barrier to its scalability for industrial applications.…”