Enhanced thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy composites by mixing thermotropic liquid crystalline epoxy grafted graphene oxide

Abstract

Abstract. Graphene oxide (GO) sheets were chemically grafted with thermotropic liquid crystalline epoxy (TLCP). Then we fabricated composites using TLCP-g-GO as reinforcing filler. The mechanical properties and thermal properties of composites were systematically investigated. It is found that the thermal and mechanical properties of the composites are enhanced effectively by the addition of fillers. For instance, the composites containing 1.0 wt% of TLCP-g-GO present impact strength of 51.43 kJ/m 2 , the tensile strength of composites increase from 55.43 to 80.85 MPa, the flexural modulus of the composites increase by more than 48%. Furthermore, the incorporation of fillers is effective to improve the glass transition temperature and thermal stability of the composites. Therefore, the presence of the TLCP-g-GO in the epoxy matrix could make epoxy not only stronger but also tougher.

Reasons and remedies for the agglomeration of multilayered graphene and carbon nanotubes in polymers

“…They reported an increase of 31% in impact strength. Qi et al produced GO–epoxy nanocomposites and reported increase in impact strength up to 96% [160], whereas Lu et al produced GO–epoxy nanocomposites and reported increase in impact strength up to 100% [161]. Shen et al produced graphene nanosheet–epoxy nanocomposites and reported an increase in impact strength up to 11% [162] and Bao et al reported increase in hardness up to 35% [163].…”

Liquid crystalline polymer nanocomposites reinforced with in-situ reduced graphene oxide

“…Because the crystalline order between LCP polymer chains is maintained even at elevated temperatures, it is of great interest to determine how GO layers will disperse in LCP, and how the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the resulting materials will be modified. To the best of our knowledge, only limited studies are available on the effect of carbonaceous nanofillers on the physical and mechanical properties of LCPs [39][40][41][42]. Noteworthy, multifunctional materials such as LCP nanocomposites offer a great potential to enhance not only the mechanical and thermal properties with respect to the unmodified polymer, but also functional properties including high electrical and thermal conductivity, providing the opportunity to be used in different fields such as automotive, electronic packaging, aerospace, energy storage, etc.…”

Thermally Reduced Graphite Oxide and Mechanochemically Functionalized Graphene as Functional Fillers for Epoxy Nanocomposites

“…This lead to an improved compressive failure strength and toughness by 48 and 1 185%, respectively, using GO contents as low as 0.0375 wt% . Furthermore, other groups such as Zaman et al and Qi et al reported on an increase of T g for graphene filled EP resins . Moreover, Zhou found an enhanced thermal conductivity for EP composites filled with graphene nanoplatelets.…”