Fabrication and characterization of polymer-impregnated exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet-multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrid sheets

Abstract

Exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet (xGnP®) is a layered natural mineral exfoliated from graphite with reported thickness of 6-8 nm. xGnP® has been gaining attention in materials science and engineering fields, as they can compromise between production cost and performance, and can serve as an alternative to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to some degree. This paper presents an experimental study on physical properties of polycarbonate-impregnated xGnP®-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) hybrid sheets. The hybrid sheets were fabricated through surfactant-aided carbon nanomaterial dispersion followed by vacuum-induced filtration. The inherently porous sheets were impregnated with polycarbonate by infiltrating a polycarbonate chloroform solution through the sheets. The mechanical and electrical properties of the hybrid sheet preform as well as the polymer-impregnated sheets were characterized. The morphologies of hybrid sheets and composites were analyzed through SEM to assess the interaction between xGnP® and MWCNT network and the effect of porous nanostructure on polymer infiltration. The study demonstrated successful hybridization of two carbon nanomaterials with varying morphologies, which can be used as preforms for easy-to-handle, high-carbon-content, multifunctional composite sheets.