The cocontinuous morphology induced from the graphene nanosheets percolation network structures in the immiscible high density polyethylene/polyamide 6/graphene nanosheets composites

The addition of graphene nanosheets (GNSs) into immiscible polymer composites to induce the cocontinuous morphologies shows potential application in reinforced nanocomposites and conductive polymer nanocomposites. In this work, immiscible high density polyethylene (HDPE)/polyamide 6 (PA6)/GNS composites were prepared via melt mixing. The electrical and rheological property of HDPE/PA6 composites filled with various GNS contents according to different viscosity ratios and mixing orders were investigated to reveal the double percolation effect via percolation scaling laws, and compared with those of HDPE/GNS and PA6/GNS composites. The morphology and GNS dispersion state of HDPE/PA6/GNS composites were examined via transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscope. Most of the GNS were selectively located in the PA6 phase of HDPE/PA6/GNS composites. The GNS-related network and mixing order played important roles in the cocontinuous morphology formation and performance of HDPE/PA6/GNS conductive composites. Moreover, the addition of GNS also affected the crystallization kinetics and mechanical property of HDPE/PA6/GNS composites.

Automated summary

The addition of graphene nanosheets (GNSs) into immiscible HDPE/PA6 polymers was studied, and the electrical and rheological properties of the resulting composites were investigated. The GNSs were found to be selectively located in the PA6 phase of the composites, and their dispersion and the mixing order played important roles in the formation of the cocontinuous morphology. The addition of GNSs also affected the crystallization kinetics and mechanical properties of the composites.