CAREER: Understanding the Process-Structure-Property Relationships in Polymer Nanocomposites Reinforced with Gas-Phase-Synthesized Graphene

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This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant supports fundamental research on the scalable manufacturing of graphene-reinforced nanocomposites. This class of nanocomposites are lightweight and high strength and they can enable a diverse range of new applications, such as safer vehicles with increased fuel efficiency, impact-resistant electronics with improved heat dissipation, and lightweight wind turbine blades capable of generating larger amounts of renewable energy. However, current manufacturing processes for graphene-based nanocomposites use graphene obtained through the exfoliation of graphite. Nanocomposites reinforced with exfoliated graphene exhibit three fundamental challenges that limit enhancements in properties: defects, dispersion and aggregation. Furthermore, producing exfoliated graphene requires hazardous acids and purified water and generates toxic byproducts. Incorporating gas-phase synthesized graphene into polymers can overcome these challenges. This project aims to discover the relationships between the processing, structure and properties of polymer-matrix nanocomposites reinforced with gas-phase synthesized graphene. The research promotes the progress of science by revealing new strengthening and thermal transport mechanisms, processing conditions, and graphene-polymer interactions that advance the fundamental understanding of composite materials. This multidisciplinary project integrates the fields of manufacturing, materials science, and chemistry, and broadens the participation of underrepresented groups through the inclusion of low income, potential first-generation college students in the federally-funded Upward Bound Program at Harvey Mudd College. The grant creates and freely disseminates a new nanocomposites course that employs novel techniques that enhance student learning, which improves education in STEM fields.The current understanding of graphene-based nanocomposites is largely based on polymers containing exfoliated graphene because the chemical vapor deposition of graphene on substrates is impractical for manufacturing nanocomposites. The specific goal of this project is to transform understanding of graphene-based nanocomposites by discovering the processing-structure-property relationships in polymers reinforced with gas-phase synthesized graphene (GSG). GSGs are produced through the decomposition of ethanol in atmospheric argon plasmas. The goal of this research is achieved by (1) dispersing graphene in thermosetting resins and fabricating nanocomposites by curing the dispersions in molds, (2) mixing graphene with thermoplastics using scalable compounding processes and forming nanocomposites by injection molding, (3) determining the strength and stiffness of nanocomposites through tensile testing, (4) measuring the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites using the transient plane source method, and (5) correlating property enhancements with nanocomposite microstructures using electron microscopy techniques. This project generates new knowledge that advances the fields of composites, materials science, and chemistry, and enables the environmentally friendly high-throughput manufacturing of graphene-based nanocomposites. It establishes the PI’s long-term career in the advanced manufacturing of nanocomposites that provide solutions to challenges in transportation, renewable energy, and the environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.