Synergistic effect of graphite nanoplatelets and glass fibers in polypropylene composites |
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| Authors: | Diego Pedrazzoli Alessandro Pegoretti Kyriaki Kalaitzidou |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Industrial Engineering and INSTM Research Unit, University of Trento, Trento, Italy;2. G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia;3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Abstract: | In this study, polypropylene (PP) composites reinforced with short glass fibers (GF) and exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets were obtained by melt compounding followed by injection molding. Morphological observations and quasi‐static tensile tests were carried out in order to investigate how the morphology and the mechanical properties of the composites were affected by the combined effect of two fillers of rather different size scales (i.e., micro‐ and nanoscale). The results indicate that the dispersion of the nanofiller in the PP matrix promoted the formation of a stronger interface between the matrix and GF, as indicated by the increase of the interfacial shear strength determined by the single‐fiber microdebonding test. Concurrently, a significant improvement of the tensile modulus and impact strength of the composites was observed, with small changes in the processability of hybrid composites compared to that of GF composites, as confirmed by rheological measurements. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41682. |
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| Keywords: | composites graphene and fullerenes mechanical properties nanotubes structure– property relations viscosity and viscoelasticity |
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