Elastomer reinforcement by graphene nanoplatelets and synergistic improvements of electrical and mechanical properties of composites by hybrid nano fillers of graphene-carbon black & graphene-MWCNT

Present work deals with the reinforcement behaviour of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) in elastomer matrix of acrylonitrile butadiene (NBR) co-polymer. The addition of 20 phr GNP in NBR matrix a significant improvement in tensile strength (similar to 528%), and elongation at break (similar to 60%) compared to neat NBR is observed. Hybrid composites of NBR filled with GNP-CB and GNP-MWCNT at judicious proportion exhibit further improvement in the mentioned properties compared to those exhibited by composites containing individual fillers at same loading. This reflects strong synergistic effect on properties by hybrid fillers. Morphological studies reveal the state of dispersion of filler in matrix polymer, and this can be correlated with property improvements. The better synergistic effect of GNP-CB hybrid filler in comparison to GNP-MWCNT for improvement in mechanical and electrical properties as well as thermal stability may be attributed to the better filler dispersion and higher polymer-filler interaction for NBR-GNP-CB hybrid system compared to NBR-GNP-MWCNT system. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.