Effect of graphene on thermal stability and mechanical properties of ethylene-vinyl acetate: a molecular dynamics simulation

Graphene has an important positive impact on improving polymer material properties, making the application of composite materials widely available. This paper investigates the influence of graphene on the thermal and mechanical properties of Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) by the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The thermostability and mechanical properties of the graphene/EVA nanocomposites are analyzed in terms of the glass transition temperature (T-g), mean-square displacement (MSD), modulus, interfacial binding energy (IBE), stress-strain relationship, yield strength, and tensile strength. The influences of the size of graphene on the thermal stability and mechanical properties of EVA are analyzed and discussed. The simulation result indicated that the glass transition temperature, modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength of the nanocomposites are higher than that of pristine EVA, which is in good consistent with recent experiments. We attribute this finding to the fact that the strong interfacial bonding of graphene to EVA limits the fluidity of the EVA chains and improves the thermal stability and strength of the graphene/EVA composites. The incorporation of graphene enhanced the thermal stability and mechanical properties of EVA.