Investigation of Thermomechanical Properties of UHMWPE/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites Prepared by In situ Ziegler-Natta Polymerization

The graphene-based Ziegler-Natta catalyst has been used to prepare ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene/graphene oxide (UHMWPE/GO) nanocomposite via in situ polymerization. The morphological investigations have been conducted using X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy method. The obtained results indicated that no diffraction peak is detected in a GO pattern, which could be due to the exfoliation of graphene nanosheets in the UHMWPE matrix. Morphological investigations indicated that GO nanosheets are dispersed almost uniformly in polymeric matrix, and that there should exist a good interaction between nanofillers and matrix. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were studied, and the results showed that the Young (tensile) modulus and tensile strength of the prepared nanocomposites were significantly increased by increasing the filler content, which should be due to the high aspect ratio of GO plates and their uniform dispersion in the UHMWPE matrix. The thermogravimetery investigations reveal that the thermal stability of nanocomposites increase with increasing GO content and that initiation thermal decomposition temperature shifts to higher values.