Fabrication of graphite-graphene-ionic liquid modified carbon nanotubes filled natural rubber thin films for microwave and energy storage applications

Abstract

Exploiting polymer nanocomposites as dielectric and heat storage devices is an important approach to develop high performance materials. Graphite (GT), thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRG), and hybrid consisting of TRG and ionic liquid (1-Ethyl-2, 3-dimethylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide) modified carbon nanotubes (IMCNT) were added to natural rubber and membranes were fabricated via melt mixing method. The amount of the GT, TRG, TRG+IMCNT used in this work was in the range of 0.5 to 5 wt%. Mechanical properties of NR nanocomposites revealed that the hybrid (TRG+IMCNT) (5 wt%) system showed high tensile strength, high modulus and low elongation at break as compared to neat NR, NR reinforced with GT (5 wt%) and NR reinforced with TRG (5 wt%) systems owing to the synergistic hybrid effect caused by the network formation of the hybrid fillers inside NR matrix. Dielectric properties of the prepared membranes were studied at 2.5, 10 and 20 GHz in the microwave frequency region using a Split Post Dielectric Resonator (SPDR) based technique. The incorporation of micro and nanofillers in the natural rubber (NR) matrix results in consistent improvement in dielectric constant and lower loss tangent values. In certain cases the samples containing 5 wt% of filler exhibited high loss or conducting behaviour at higher frequencies (10 and 20 GHz). Different techniques had to be employed for measuring the dielectric constant and loss tangent of the prepared membranes where they showed a high loss or conducting behaviour. Moreover, thermal history like glass transition temperature and the change in heat capacity were estimated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). In addition, the dispersion of micro and nanofillers inside the NR was estimated using X-ray followed by Transmission Electron Microscopy for the morphology architecture of nanofillers. The morphology of the prepared membranes was correlated with the mechanical, dielectric and thermal properties. The hybrid system (TRG+IMCNT) exhibited high dielectric constant (5.6) and low heat capacity value (0.32 J/g/°C) as compared to GT and TRG systems.

Ruthenium oxide–carbon-based nanofiller-reinforced conducting polymer nanocomposites and their supercapacitor applications

“…The combination of nanofillers with polymer matrix showed the improvements of dielectric constant and lower loss tangent values [104]. Moreover, it supplies mechanical, dielectric, and thermal properties of polymer, which was followed by X-ray transmission electron microscopy for the morphology of nanofillers.…”

“…In the literature, a mesoporous silica MCM-48 was added to poly(methyl acylate) (PMA) to improve mechanical and thermophysical properties [112]. This material in polymer shows a good dielectric constant and lower loss tangent values [113]. In general, nanofiller materials enhance the performance of nanocomposites in various applications [114].…”

Enhancement of Green Tires Performance through Ultrasound-Assisted Mixing

“…Unfortunately, most of them have some problems, which make them not yet suitable for industrialization. For example, the application of graphene and carbon nanotubes in rubber formulations can improve the tensile strength, tear resistance, wear resistance, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and other properties of rubber, but the production cost of rubber will be greatly increased [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. The low-temperature primary mixing process that uses multiple open mixers and a single internal mixer for supplementary mixing has been promoted for a small range of traditional mixing method applications [ 15 ].…”

Impact of Ionic Liquid on the Dielectric and Mechanical Performance of Poly(Vinyl Chloride) (PVC)/Reduced Graphene Oxide (RGO) Nanocomposites

“…[2,[6][7][8] Ionic liquids (ILs) are extensively used for the surface modification of various polymers including elastomers, thermoplastics, thermosets, etc. [9][10][11][12][13]14] ILs are used in the synthesis of conducting polymers and nanoparticles due to their low vapor pressures, wide liquid temperature range, good thermal stability, good dissolving ability, tailorable structures, high ionic conductivity and wide electrochemical window. ILs have been used as solvents, reactants, and templates for the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterial with novel morphologies and enhanced properties.…”