Mechanical and thermal properties of polyamide‐6 nanocomposites reinforced by graphene oxide with low loading by double extrusion method

Abstract

The high toughness, high abrasion resistance, and high water absorption capacity of polyamide‐6 (PA6), and the restacking of graphene oxide (GO) sheets make it quite challenging to get uniformly dispersed GO/PA6 nanocomposites. Herein, GO of different parts per hundred ratios (phr) was melt‐mixed with PA6 matrix by double extrusion using a twin‐screw compounder, followed by the micro twin‐screw extruder, and composites were prepared by injection molding method. The stress–strain curves from tensile measurements showed strain hardening in nanocomposites. The yield strength and Young's modulus increased by 11.3% and 16.7% respectively, for 0.1 phr GO loading. The crystallization and melting temperatures in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were increased by 4.7 and 9.6°C, respectively with 0.1 phr GO reinforcement. The Raman and XRD analysis showed continuous shifting in the intensity peaks with increasing reinforcements. Moreover, a double extrusion process imparts good mechanical and thermal stability to our composites. The significant improvement in mechanical and thermal performance of injection molded nanocomposites at very low reinforcements leads to their potential applications in automobiles, civil constructions, smart textiles, packaging, and sensors.