Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Styrene‐Isoprene‐Styrene Copolymer Doped with Expanded Graphite Nanoplatelets

Abstract

The molecular dynamics of a triblock copolymer and of expanded graphite nanoplatelets were investigated. Composites were prepared using the solution technique. The effects of filler addition and of filler-matrix interactions were investigated using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Only one relaxation was observed by DRS, which was associated with the relaxation of the main polymer chain. Both DRS and DMA demonstrated that the addition of the filler does not cause a significant change in either the temperature of the relaxation or its activation energy, which suggests the presence of weak interactions between the filler and matrix. The storage modulus of the composites increased with increasing filler content. The composite containing 8% filler exhibited a storage modulus increase of approximately 394% in the rubber area. Using the DC electrical conductivity measurements, the electrical percolation threshold was determined to be approximately 5%. The dielectric permittivity and conductivity in the microwave region were determined, confirming that percolating behavior and the critical threshold concentration.

Atomistic modeling of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride polymer nanocomposites: a review

“…Ahangari modeled the PP with GS and found that the interaction energy and the equilibrium distance to be −0.11 eV and 2.94 Å, respectively. Špitalský et al employed the MD simulations between a triblock copolymer of styrene‐isoprene‐styrene and GNPLT. An improvement of about 394% was predicted in the storage modulus with optimum 8% nanofiller content.…”

“…Despite all these advantages, polymers are less dense and their structural strength is comparatively very low. In order to improve the strength of polymers, the properties of reinforcement/nanofiller play a decisive role . Polymers‐based nanocomposites exhibit high heat distortion temperature, curtailed scratch and mar resistance, noise damping, and tailored mechanical strength .…”

Processing of Graphene/Elastomer Nanocomposites: A Minireview

“…Elastomers constitute the polymeric matrix in the production of elastomer-based nanocomposites that possess improved properties [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. On the other hand, elastomeric nanocomposites demand different preparative and processing procedures as compared with polymer-based nanocomposites.…”