Electrospun Nylon-Graphene Nanocomposites Synthesis and Microstructure
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Electrospun Nylon-Graphene Nanocomposites Synthesis and Microstructure Loyda Albañil-Sanchez1,3, Angel Romo-Uribe1,*, Araceli Flores2 and R Cruz-Silva3 1
Lab. De Nanopolimeros y Coloides, Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Cuernavaca Mor. 62210, MEXICO 2 Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, C.S.I.C., Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, C.S.I.C. Serrano 119, 28006 Madrid, SPAIN 3 CIICAp, UAEM, Cuernavaca Mor. 62210, MEXICO * To whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected] ABSTRACT There has been much interest in the last few years on materials reinforced with nanometer scale particles. These so-called nanocomposites can exhibit hybrid properties derived from its components. One of the most promising nanocomposites is that based on polymers reinforced with single-layered carbon sheets named graphene. The reason is that graphene can significantly improve the physical properties of the polymeric material once it is completely dispersed in the matrix. In this work nylon/graphene nanocomposites were prepared starting from the synthesis of graphite oxide (GO). Direct oxidation of graphite powder was utilized to produce GO. That is, the oxidation reaction produced graphite layers with functional groups containing oxygen. The aim was to increase the polarity of GO to enable a good dispersion in polar solvents. Then, nylon/graphene nanocomposites were prepared by reducing GO in the presence of nylon. Finally, non-woven membranes, with nanometer sized filaments, of nylon/graphene were electrospun. The morphology and microstructure of the nanocomposites was investigated via electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. INTRODUCTION In recent years the field of nanotechnology has grown rapidly and its applications have diversified in areas such as computing, sensors, biomedical, electronic and others [1-6]. Advances in these disciplines have relied heavily on the ability to synthesize nanometer sized particles of various materials with different shapes. Currently, nanomaterials possess a wide range of applications due to their structural characteristics. For instance, there are polymers reinforced with nanoparticles that have shown excellent thermal and mechanical properties, and therefore, these nanostructured materials have been considered for advanced engineering applications such as electronics and automotive industry. In 1987, Toyota researchers successfully developed a nanocomposite based on polyamide 6 (PA6) reinforced with montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay, a silicate derivative of bentonite [7]. Since then, the preparation and characterization of silicate-reinforced polymers has been widely reported by several research groups. In this sense, the discovery of graphene and graphene-based polymer nanocomposites made a significant contribution to the area of nanotechnology [8]. Graphene provides several properties to polymeric materials, such as high thermal conductivity, good chemical resistance and flame-retardant properties [9-16], among others. Currently, research
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