SYNTHESIS OF POLYMERIC NANOCOMPOSITES WITH GRAPHENE AND ITS MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION

Abstract

Polymeric nanocomposites with graphene were obtained by semicontinuous heterogeneous polymerization in situ. Its mechanical properties were determined in the films formed with different concentrations of graphene. The process of obtaining the nanocomposites consisted of two stages: In the first stage the graphene was synthesized by the modified Hummer method. The second stage consisted of the dosing of styrene (St), butyl acrylate (AB) and allyl methacrylate (ALMA); at a flow rate of 0.5 mL / min, on the graphene dispersion obtained in the first stage. The characterization of the polymer films were done by means of mechanical tests, average particle diameter by dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) technique, and the qualitative analysis of functional groups was carried out by infrared spectroscopy. According to the results obtained, the latexes synthesized had a final conversion greater than 87.2%, and with a particle average diameter between 48.5 and 92.0 nm, whose diameters increased as the graphene concentration increased. An increase in its Young's modulus and decrease in the percentage of the deformation at break were obtained as the graphene content in the polymer nanocomposite was increased. The largest elastic modulus of 5.28 MPa for the nanocomposite containing 2% of graphene.