Nanocomposites of graphene nanoplatelets in natural rubber: microstructure and mechanisms of reinforcement

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 52; no. 16; pp. 9558 - 9572
• Main Authors: Li, Suhao, Li, Zheling, Burnett, Timothy L., Slater, Thomas J. A., Hashimoto, Teruo, Young, Robert J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon black; CAT scans; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Composites; Computed tomography; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Graphene; Graphite; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Microstructure; Modulus of elasticity; Nanocomposites; Natural rubber; Polymer Sciences; Preferred orientation; Raman spectroscopy; Scanning electron microscopy; Solid Mechanics; Stiffness; Stress transfer; Carbon Black; Effective Modulus; Pristine Graphene; Orientation Distribution Function; Natural Rubber
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-017-1144-0

The microstructure and mechanisms of reinforcement have been investigated in nanocomposites consisting of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in natural rubber (NR). Nanocomposites with four different loadings of three different sized GNPs were prepared and were bench-marked against nanocomposites loaded with N330 carbon black. The microstructure of the nanocomposites was characterised through a combination of scanning electron microscopy, polarised Raman spectroscopy and X-ray computed tomography (CT), where it was shown that the GNPs were well dispersed with a preferred orientation parallel to the surface of the nanocomposite sheets. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were evaluated using tensile testing, and it was shown that, for a given loading, there was a three times greater increase in stiffness for the GNPs than for the carbon black. Stress transfer from the NR to the GNPs was evaluated from stress-induced Raman bands shifts indicating that the effective Young’s modulus of the GNPs in the NR was of the order of 100 MPa, similar to the value evaluated using the rule of mixtures from the stress–strain data.