Highly Conductive Nanocomposites with Three‐Dimensional, Compactly Interconnected Graphene Networks via a Self‐Assembly Process

Abstract

Polymer‐based materials with high electrical conductivity are of considerable interest because of their wide range of applications. The construction of a 3D, compactly interconnected graphene network can offer a huge increase in the electrical conductivity of polymer composites. However, it is still a great challenge to achieve desirable 3D architectures in the polymer matrix. Here, highly conductive polymer nanocomposites with 3D compactly interconnected graphene networks are obtained using a self‐assembly process. Polystyrene (PS) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) are used as polymer matrixes. The obtained PS composite film with 4.8 vol% graphene shows a high electrical conductivity of 1083.3 S/m, which is superior to that of the graphene composite prepared by a solvent mixing method. The electrical conductivity of the composites is closely related to the compact contact between graphene sheets in the 3D structures and the high reduction level of graphene sheets. The obtained EVA composite films with the 3D graphene structure not only show high electrical conductivity but also exhibit high flexibility. Importantly, the method to fabricate 3D graphene structures in polymer matrix is facile, green, low‐cost, and scalable, providing a universal route for the rational design and engineering of highly conductive polymer composites.

Flexible Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Reduced Graphene Oxide Coated Carbon Composites for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

“…It should be noted that the threshold value for the fabricated composites is only 0.017 wt % RGO when calculated on the RGO basis, which is among the lowest values reported in the literature for GPCs with segregated structure. ,, Thus, it is elucidated that RGO with a similar segregated architecture is found in the PVA/RGO@AC composite. In addition to the low percolation threshold, we observe that the fitted value of t is 2.31 and 3.17 for RGO and RGO@AC-10, respectively, which are higher than the universal critical exponents (1.1–2.0) derived from the classical conduction model. , The large aspect ratio of RGO and its special geometry (wave-structured graphene linking AC and the 3D RGO–AC–RGO conducting network) are thought to be responsible for the high critical exponent and are in good agreement with other reports in the literature. ,,, A similar calculation for the PVA/AC composites is shown in Figure S4, and a much higher percolation threshold of 2.5 wt % and a lower t value of 1.5 are obtained because of the low aspect ratio and limited conductivity of AC.…”

Patternable Solvent-Processed Thermoplastic Graphite Electrodes

“…Similar to the 11 μm particles, the conductivity of the 20 μm TPE increases until reaching a saturation point at a 1:3 PMMA:​carbon ratio. The conductivities in Figure are consistent with the literature on carbon composites with similar carbon mass loadings, while the values of the 11 μm TPEs are considered high. − A recent report on a graphene screen-printed electrode proposed an “extremely high” conductivity of 11.2 S m –1 . By comparison, the best-performing 11 μm TPE reported herein exhibited an average conductivity of nearly 700 S m –1 .…”

Highly Conductive Transition Metal Carbide/Carbonitride(MXene)@polystyrene Nanocomposites Fabricated by Electrostatic Assembly for Highly Efficient Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

“…To ascertain how the conductive network forms in the nanocomposite, Ti 3 C 2 T x @PS hybrid is molded by compression molding at room temperature. As shown in Figure a, PS‐570 microspheres are compressed into clusters of nearly hexagonal blocks and every three units share a vertex with 120° angles (Figure b), consistent with that observed for 3D structured systems . The assembled Ti 3 C 2 T x nanosheets are hardly found due to the tight and complete encapsulation of the PS surfaces.…”