Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue 32, Pages 13186-13189Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0905844106
Keywords
binary combinations; nanoindentation technique; polyvinyl alcohol; synergistic effects
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
One of the applications of nanomaterials is as reinforcements in composites, wherein small additions of nanomaterials lead to large enhancements in mechanical properties. There have been extensive studies in the literature on composites where a polymer matrix is reinforced by a single nanomaterial such as carbon nanotubes. In this article, we examine the significant synergistic effects observed when 2 different types of nanocarbons are incorporated in a polymer matrix. Thus, binary combinations of nanodiamond, few-layer graphene, and single-walled nanotubes have been used to reinforce polyvinyl alcohol. The mechanical properties of the resulting composites, evaluated by the nanoindentation technique, show extraordinary synergy, improving the stiffness and hardness by as much as 400% compared to those obtained with single nanocarbon reinforcements. These results suggest a way of designing advanced materials with extraordinary mechanical properties by incorporating small amounts of 2 nanomaterials such as graphene plus nanodiamond or nanodiamond plus carbon nanotube.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available