Journal
SMALL
Volume 17, Issue 28, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202100017
Keywords
alternating convergent-divergent flow; expanded graphite; highly thermal conductivity; simultaneous exfoliation and dispersion; steam explosion
Categories
Funding
- Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [51933004]
- National Key Research and Development Program of China [2016YFB0302300]
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China [2018A030313275, 2017A030313270]
- Yuesui Joint Foundation for Young Scholars [2019A1515110962]
- Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China [2020M672340]
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing, South China University of Technology, China [2021kfkt05]
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The newly developed one-step melt mixing strategy utilizes the synergy of steam explosion and alternating convergent-divergent flow to rapidly produce high-quality graphene nanosheets from expanded graphite, which are then dispersed in the melt within a short time frame. The produced nanosheets improve the crystallinity of HDPE and form a thermally-conductive network, enabling applications in solar-to-thermal conversion and heat dissipation.
Producing high-quality graphene and polymer/graphene nanocomposite is facing the problems of complex procedure, low efficiency, and serious resource waste. To explore a new fabrication approach with high efficiency and low cost is crucial for solving these technical issues, which becomes a current research hotspot and also a great challenge. Herein, a one-step melt mixing strategy based on the synergy of steam explosion and alternating convergent-divergent flow, is innovatively developed to fabricate high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/graphene nanocomposites using industrial-grade expanded graphite (EG) without chemical agents and complex procedures. The co-action of the external force derived from elongational melts and the internal force generated by steam explosion make EG ultrafastly exfoliate into few-layer graphene nanosheets (GNS) and simultaneously disperse in melts within 4 min. The as-produced GNS have a lateral size of over 5 mu m and a minimum thickness of 1.4 nm, can introduce super heterogeneous nucleation to HDPE macromolecules and greatly increases nanocomposite crystallinity up to 86.5%. Moreover, plentiful HDPE crystallites and well-dispersed GNS jointly form an improved thermally-conductive network, making nanocomposites with a rapid-respond ability in solar-to-thermal conversion and heat dissipation. This facile strategy will facilitate the development of scalable production and wide application of high-performance graphene and highly-filled nanocomposites.
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