Percolation Behavior of Electrically Conductive Graphene Nanoplatelets/Polymer Nanocomposites: Theory and Experiment

Percolation behavior of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) filled electrically conductive nanocomposites of polymers was studied theoretically and experimentally. A modified power law based percolation theory was formulated to include particulate geometry and temperature dependence. Pristine and vinyl acetate/butyl acrylate functionalized GNPs were synthesized for further usage in preparation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites via in situ polymerization. Structural characterization of the samples showed their unique quality. Best values of percolation threshold and maximum conductivity were found to be 0.3 vol.% and 10(-1) S/cm, respectively. Modified power law allowing one to predict the percolation by knowing only aspect ratio of GNPs was successfully described our graphene-polymer model system as well as wide range of literature collected data. Our results could serve as a design tool in graphite nanofiller based conductive composites.