Nanocomposites

Jinbo Bai is research director at CNRS and coordinator of the GDR Polynano phases I & II. His research focuses on the synthesis, development, processing, characterization and multi-scale modeling of multifunctional nano- and micro-composite materials.

Foreword: Polymer Nanocomposites: Are There Scientific Questions with No Answers? xi
Jean-François GÉRARD

Chapter 1 Graphite and Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNP) Filled Polymer Matrix Nanocomposites 1
Marc PONÇOT, Adrien LETOFFE, Stéphane CUYNET, Sébastien FONTANA and Lucie SPEYER

1.1 General information on graphene 1

1.1.1 Definition and structure 1

1.1.2 Structures associated with graphene 2

1.1.3 Graphene properties 3

1.2 Graphene preparation methods 3

1.2.1 Graphite exfoliation 5

1.2.2 Graphite-derived compounds exfoliation 9

1.3 Methods of dispersion of carbon nanofillers in a polymer matrix 14

1.3.1 In situ polymerization 14

1.3.2 Intercalation in solution 16

1.3.3 Melt mixing 18

1.3.4 Comparison of development methods 22

1.4 Influence of the nanofiller on the properties of the nanocomposite 23

1.4.1 Analysis of the material morphology 23

1.4.2 Influence of nanofillers on semi-crystalline microstructures 24

1.4.3 Influence of nanofillers on mechanical properties 26

1.4.4 Influence of nanofillers on electrical properties 29

1.4.5 Evolution of the thermal resistance 34

1.5 References 36

Chapter 2 Morphological Characterization Techniques for Nano-Reinforced Polymers 47
Adoté Sitou BLIVI, Benhui FAN, Djimédo KONDO and Fahmi BEDOUI

2.1 Transmission electron microscopy 47

2.1.1 Sample preparation and acquisition of the TEM images 48

2.1.2 Size, dispersion and interparticle distance 49

2.2 X-ray diffraction 55

2.2.1 SAXS 56

2.2.2 WAXS 62

2.3 Conclusion 67

2.4 References 68

Chapter 3 Size Effects on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Nano-Reinforced Polymers 71
Fahmi BEDOUI, Adoté Sitou BLIVI, Benhui FAN and Djimédo KONDO

3.1 Size effect on the glass transition temperature 71

3.1.1 Differential scanning calorimetry 71

3.1.2 Dynamic mechanical analysis 73

3.1.3 Wide-angle temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction (WAXS) 74

3.2 Thermal stability 82

3.3 Effect of size on mechanical properties 83

3.3.1 Quasi-static tests: elastic properties 83

3.3.2 Dynamic tests: viscoelastic properties 88

3.4 Conclusion 90

3.5 References 91

Chapter 4 Effects of the Size and Nature of Fillers on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of PEEK Matrix Composites 93
Marie DOUMENG, Karl DELBÉ, Florentin BERTHET, Olivier MARSAN, Jean DENAPE and France CHABERT

4.1 Introduction 93

4.2 Materials and methods 96

4.2.1 Polymer 96

4.2.2 Reinforcements 97

4.2.3 Nano- and microcomposites preparation 101

4.2.4 Characterization 102

4.3 Results 104

4.3.1 Characterization of the powders 104

4.3.2 Filler distribution in the matrix 107

4.3.3 Effect of size on thermal transitions 111

4.3.4 Effect of size on the degree of crystallinity 112

4.3.5 Thermal properties 116

4.3.6 Effect of size on mechanical properties 119

4.4 Conclusion 133

4.5 References 135

Chapter 5 Study of Interface and Interphase between Epoxy Matrix and Carbon-based Nanofillers in Nanocomposites 141
Yu LIU, Delong HE, Ann-Lenaig HAMON and Jinbo BAI

5.1 Introduction 141

5.1.1 Surface modification of the fillers 142

5.1.2 Experimental techniques 143

5.2 Structural analysis of the interface with electron energy-loss spectroscopy 143

5.2.1 Analysis technique 143

5.2.2 Results 146

5.2.3 Interpretation 148

5.3 In situ tensile test using scanning electron microscopy 149

5.3.1 Experimental set-up 151

5.3.2 Results 151

5.3.3 Interpretation 153

5.3.4 Perspectives 154

5.4 Conclusion 155

5.5 Acknowledgments 155

5.6 References 155

Chapter 6 Multiscale Modeling of Graphene-polymer Nanocomposites with Tunneling Effect 157
Xiaoxin LU, Julien YVONNET, Fabrice DETREZ and Jinbo BAI

6.1 Introduction 157

6.2 Modeling of effective electric nonlinear behavior in graphene–polymer nanocomposites 159

6.2.1 Tunneling effect 159

6.2.2 Nonlinear electrical conduction model at the RVE scale 161

6.3 Numerical simulations of effective electric conductivity 164

6.3.1 Effect of barrier height on the percolation threshold 164

6.3.2 Effect of graphene aspect ratio on the percolation threshold 165

6.3.3 Effect of alignment of graphene sheets 165

6.3.4 Comparison between numerical and experimental results 167

6.4 Two-scale approaches 169

6.4.1 Construction of the surrogate model based on ANN: strategy 170

6.4.2 Structural application 171

6.5 Electromechanical coupling 173

6.5.1 Mechanical modeling 173

6.5.2 Constitutive laws 175

6.5.3 Weak form of mechanical problem 175

6.5.4 Identification of cohesive zone model 176

6.5.5 Evolution of electrical properties under stretching of the composite 178

6.6 Conclusion 180

6.7 References 181

Chapter 7 Computational Modeling of Carbon Nanofiller Networks in Polymer Composites 187
Angel MORA

7.1 Introduction 187

7.2 Modeling and simulation of CNT/polymer nanocomposites 190

7.2.1 Geometrical modeling of CNT/polymer nanocomposites 190

7.2.2 Analysis of electrical conductivity 191

7.3 Improving electrical conductivity of polymers loaded with CNTs 193

7.3.1 Introducing a definition of loading efficiency 194

7.3.2 Efficiency and electrical conductivity of polymers loaded with CNTs 196

7.3.3 Influence of junction resistance 196

7.4 Improving electrical conductivity of polymers loaded with hybrid particles 198

7.4.1 Hybrid particles 198

7.4.2 Efficiency and electrical conductivity of CNT-GNP hybrid-particle networks 200

7.4.3 Optimization of the hybrid-particle geometry 201

7.5 Conclusions 205

7.6 References 205

Chapter 8 Electrostrictive Polymer Nanocomposites: Fundamental and Applications 213
Shenghong YAO and Jinkai YUAN

8.1 Introduction 213

8.2 Electrostriction relations 215

8.3 Determination of the electrostriction coefficient 217

8.4 The route to high electrostriction materials 222

8.5 Applications of electrostrictive materials 226

8.5.1 Actuators 226

8.5.2 Capacitive sensors 226

8.5.3 Mechanical energy harvesting 228

8.6 Conclusions and perspectives 234

8.7 References 234

List of Authors 241

Index 245