Improved Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Resin with Butadiene Functionalized Graphitic Nanoplatelet

Abstract

Butadiene-functionalized graphitic nanoplatelet (BfGN) is synthesized using only graphite and 1,3-butadiene, without requiring any additional reactions. Due to the chemical affinity of the butadiene functional groups, the BfGN exhibits excellent dispersion in solvents (such as THF) and polymers (such as ABS resin). Consequently, BfGN&ABS_X nanocomposites, which can be easily fabricated via a solution casting process, show remarkable mechanical performance and thermal stability in comparison to pure ABS resin. Among BfGN&ABS_X nanocomposites, BfGN&ABS_1 nanocomposite exhibits the best performance. The tensile strength, Young's modulus, and toughness of BfGN&ABS_1 nanocomposite is increased by 90.1%, 2.4%, and 2.8%, respectively, compared to the pure ABS resin. In terms of tensile strength, all BfGN&ABS_X nanocomposites show significant improvement due to the compatibility between ABS chains and BfGN. Therefore, graphitic nanoplatelet (GNP) prepared through mechanochemical reactions possess many outstanding properties. In particular, GNP functionalized with various groups exhibits remarkable compatibility with many polymers.