Effect of Dispersion and Improper Bonding of Nanofiller Polymer Composites

Abstract

Nanofiller is used to enhance the properties in composite materials, with at least one phase of nanomaterials that can be referred as nanocomposites. The nanomaterial due to uniform dispersion recently used in advanced polymer nanocomposites, to mix effectively in the polymer matrix. The production of polymer composites with nanofiller is limited due to the unresolved issues such as agglomeration during processing, high production cost and limited availability of good quality. Graphene filled nanocomposites is a novel material and considered in different applications. The properties of the nanocomposites mainly depend on the arrangement of graphene layers with the polymer matrix and interfacial bonding between them. Here an attempt is made to develop polymer composites using graphene as reinforcements and epoxy as matrix materials. Sonication is a process of applying ultrasound energy to disperse nanoparticles in epoxy. The sound waves that are created in sonication are generally large ultrasound waves and during this process, considerable heat is produced. If the sonication treatment is too long, nanoparticles were seriously damaged, particularly when a probe sonicator is used. The localized damage causes nanoparticles to deteriorate the mechanical properties of the polymer composites. The study from XRD and SEM showed that the use of graphene at higher weight % resulted in a decrease in strength of the composites. Hence, it is not a better choice to produce nanocomposites at increased addition of nanofiller.