Graphene type dependence of carbon nanotubes/graphene nanoplatelets polyurethane hybrid nanocomposites: Micromechanical modeling and mechanical properties

TL;DR

This study investigates how different types of graphene affect the mechanical enhancement of polyurethane nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes, revealing a significant synergistic effect especially with specific graphene types, supported by micromechanical modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of graphene type dependence on nanocomposite properties and validates the synergy prediction with unit cell modeling.

Findings

Synergistic effect between MWCNTs and GNP-1.5 (1:1) enhances tensile strength by 43%.

Graphene type with higher SSA and smaller flake size yields better mechanical improvements.

Unit cell modeling accurately predicts the observed synergistic effects.

Abstract

Micromechanical modeling and mechanical properties of polyurethane (PU) hybrid nanocomposite foams with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were investigated by mean of tensile strength, hardness, impact strength and modified Halpin-Tsai equation. Three types of graphene, with varied flake sizes and specific surface areas (SSA), were utilized to study the effect of graphene types on the synergistic effect of MWCNT/GNP hybrid nanofillers. The results indicate a remarkable synergetic effect between MWCNTs and GNP-1.5 (1:1) with a flake size of 1.5 {\mu}m and a higher SSA (750 m^2/g), which tensile strength of PU was improved by 43% as compared to 19% for PU/MWCNTs and 17% for PU/GNP-1.5 at 0.25 wt% nanofiller loadings. The synergy was successfully predicted using unit cell modeling, in which the calculated data agrees with the experimental results.