NANOCOMPOSITES | MATERIALS
Nanocomposites expand their application base
Graphene and carbon nanotubes are finding increasing commercial applications in thermoplastic compounds in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and consumer goods. Jennifer Markarian investigates
Nano-scale reinforcements, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, offer high performance proper- ties at low addition levels. Historically, these materi- als have been challenging to exfoliate and disperse, but new technologies help lower this technical barrier. At the same time, costs are coming down. “I’m seeing a lot of advancements in material science and in scaling carbon nanotubes and graphene up so they’re not so cost-prohibitive,” said Jeremy Lizotte, Director of Innovation at Tennessee- based Insight Polymers & Compounding. “Com- panies making graphene and carbon nanotubes are trying to grow, and getting into plastics is one of their strategies.” The company plans to bring new products to
market based on carbon nanotubes. “These products would allow reduction of other additives like carbon fibre or carbon black, resulting in a composition with improved or comparable performance properties that process more easily or handle post-processing operations in a more
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robust manner,” said Lizotte. In producing nanocomposites, the form and surface properties of the nano-scale additive are critical and have to be adjusted to optimise the compound and achieve the promised, theoretical benefits, added AJ Pasquale, Co-founder and Director of Operations at Insight Polymers. Sal Monte, President and Owner of Kenrich
Petrochemicals, points to his company’s titanates and zirconates that act at the interface to address these surface property issues. “A challenge with graphene is that it needs to be exfoliated in the finished product to deliver performance, and that once it is exfoliated, it tends to reagglomerate. Coupling agents are often used to help solve problems of agglomeration and dispersion. But another challenge is that the graphene surface is non-reactive with silanes, which means the surface must be treated before it can be functionalised with silane-based coupling agents,” Monte said. “Unlike silanes, however, the 1.5 nm titanates and
Main image: Scanning electron microscope image of carbon
nanotubes produced by TrimTabs
October 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 13
IMAGE: TRIMTABS
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