Producing Conductive Polymer Composites by Placing Graphene at the Interfaces of the Blended Polymers

大多数导电材料由金属制成，但有一类特殊的塑料，导电聚合物复合材料（CPC），由聚合物与导电填料的混合物制成。CPC具有表现出独特的机械和电子性能的潜力，但制造起来具有挑战性且昂贵。目前，CPC需要大量的导电填料，这大大增加了材料的成本，并严重降低了它们的机械强度，限制了实施。该奖项将通过在聚合物中选择性放置石墨烯（一种高导电填料）来实现CPC的新制造方法。通过了解如何局部控制填料的放置，需要更少的填料，降低成本和降低复合材料强度的风险。学术团队与认识到这种发展的潜在影响的行业合作伙伴建立了联系。本研究旨在通过工程化共连续聚合物共混物的形态来创造具有所需性能的CPC。共连续共混物的两种不混溶的聚合物之间的界面为石墨烯提供了一个可膨胀的支架。该界面的稀疏结构以及石墨烯的大纵横比将显著减少CPC中所需的导电填料的量，从而降低制造成本。此外，通过选择非导电但机械强度高的聚合物用于共连续共混物，该方法还可以大大提高CPC的机械性能。该研究将为界面石墨烯对CPC形态和性能的影响提供科学见解。

Most conductive materials are made of metals but there is a special class of plastics, conductive polymer composites (CPCs), made from a mixture of polymer with conductive fillers. CPCs have the potential to exhibit unique mechanical and electronic properties but are challenging and expensive to manufacture. Currently, CPCs require a large amount of conductive fillers which greatly increases the cost of the materials and seriously degrades their mechanical strength, limiting implementation. This award will enable a new manufacturing method for CPCs through the selective placement of graphene, a highly conductive filler, in a polymer. By understanding how to locally control the filler placement, much less filler is needed, reducing both cost and the risk of degrading the strength of the composite material. The academic team has established connections with industry partners who recognize the potential impact of such a development.This research aims to create CPCs with desired properties via engineering the morphology of co-continuous polymer blends. The interface between two immiscible polymers of the co-continuous blends provides a percolating scaffold for graphene. The sparse percolating structure of the interface, as well as the large aspect ratio of graphene, will significantly reduce the amount of conductive fillers needed in CPCs and, therefore, cut the cost of manufacturing. Moreover, by choosing non-conductive yet mechanically strong polymers for the co-continuous blends, the approach can also greatly improve the mechanical properties of CPCs. The research will deliver scientific insight into the effect of the interfacial graphene on the morphology and properties of the CPCs.