Optimisation of hybridisation effect in graphene reinforced polymer nanocomposites |
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Authors: | Velram Balaji Mohan Reuben Brown Krishnan Jayaraman Debes Bhattacharyya |
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Affiliation: | Centre for Advanced Composite Materials, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland, 314–390 Khyber Pass Road, Newmarket, Auckland 1023, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | This article focuses on the optimisation of electrical and mechanical properties of hybrid blends of polyoxymethylene (POM) as primary thermoplastic matrix, polypyrrole (PPY) as secondary conducting polymer and graphene (G) as reinforcement. An initial Taguchi analysis was performed with a focus on improving electrical conductivity (σ) and tensile strength. A mixture analysis using ‘simplex’ statistical design was applied to develop an experimental subset that identified an optimal combination in weight-percentage. Both electrical and mechanical properties were improved by the addition of PPY and graphene particles due to hybridisation mechanism as well as double percolation threshold. The maximum electrical conductivity of 0.95 S cm?1 was achieved with POM reinforced with 3 wt.% of G and 2.5 wt.% of PPY loading. The mechanical properties were found to be increased with increase in addition of both G and PPY. |
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Keywords: | hybridisation graphene composites electrical conductivity ultimate tensile strength statistical analysis morphology sub-set optimisation |
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