Tailoring specific properties of polymer-based composites by using graphene and its associated compounds

Abstract

Graphene and its associated compounds have been identified as extraordinary structural nano-fillers that can tailor the properties of new polymer-based composites with specific functionalities. Graphene possesses perfect 2D atomic architecture and has a large surface area that enhances the bonding, with tailored functional groups on its surface with polymer chains to form high strength composites. Recently, a lot of research has focused on developing composites with high specific strength, high electrical and thermal conductivities, high impact resistance, excellent energy storage capability and ability to maintain their strength at low-temperature environments by using graphene, graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or carbon nanotube/graphene. Ultimate goals are to design composites that can meet specific requirements for different engineering applications. In this paper, the discussion on all aspects in relation to the use of graphene and its associated compounds for advanced composites will be given in detail. The potentiality of using these materials for hightech applications will be explored. Up to date, it has been proved that the use of graphene-based nanofillers does improve the mechanical, interfacial bonding, electrical, thermal and electromagnetic interference shield properties of polymer-based materials. Appropriately adding a small amount of these nanofillers do make a big difference to the properties of host materials.

Graphene as a stimulus for mechanical strength in glass-fiber reinforced polymers composite

“…SEM micrographs in Figures 8 and 9 and comparatively high fracture strain, see in Table 2, in the case of without graphene indicated that the failure phenomenon is associated with high shear resistance, which is also indicated by stretching mode that can be seen in encircled region of SEM images in Figures 8 and 9. It is evident from Figures 8 and 9 that fabricated material system is free from manufacturing defects such as voids, bubbles and any others, thus approving the controlled mixing and degassing during the fabrication which is the reason for improving the strength with the addition of graphene (Hung et al , 2020). Other cause of improving the strength may be considered as better fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion because of graphene reinforcement as it is obvious from microscopic images, which supports the results tabulated in Table 2 (Prusty et al , 2017).…”

“…Therefore, as surface area increases, interfacial area with polymer matrix is also increased; mechanical properties of graphene-based composites are improved. Apart from this, mechanical engagement between polymer and reinforcement will materialize, which can induce a furthermore increase in the mechanical properties as shown in Figure 6 (Hung et al , 2020 ; Prusty et al , 2017 ; Veerakumar et al , 2021).…”

3D Printed Bioinspired Stents with Photothermal Effects for Malignant Colorectal Obstruction

“…Taking gentamycin sulfate (GS) as an example, a drug cumulative release study of bioinspired stents loaded with GS was carried out to confirm the feasibility of the stents for drug loading. Besides, graphene oxide (GO) was employed to functionalize the bioinspired stents, which can convert the absorbed nearinfrared (NIR) light energy into heat energy at the tumor site, enabling ablation of the tumor with little effect on healthy tissue (the process is known as photothermal therapy) [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Due to high photothermal conversion efficiency, good cell compatibility, and no apparent toxicity in vivo, GO has been used in a wide range of biomedical applications such as drug/gene delivery carriers, biosensors, cell culture platforms, cancer treatment, and disease detection [23,[31][32][33][34][35][36].…”