Novel Polymer Nanocomposites with Recycled Carbon Materials

碳升级循环技术（CUT）从石油废物中回收的石墨烯纳米片（GNP）可用于聚合物纳米复合材料，在许多工业应用中发挥重要作用。卡尔加里大学（UC）将与CUT合作，通过合成GNP与聚合物的复合材料来创造新材料。这些材料有潜力用于汽车，航空航天电子和建筑行业。这些新型材料在阻隔应用中也具有降低水蒸气、CO2或其他气体渗透性的潜力。使用聚合物复合材料与石墨烯类材料（如GNP）开发更复杂的印刷电路板（PCB）可能会产生重大影响。考虑到社会对可持续性的强烈需求，这种可回收的填充材料允许再利用废料，同时提高聚合物的材料性能。我们将利用该大学的聚合物加工设施和表征基础设施，结合CUT的GNP制造技术，制造将被转化为加拿大聚合物工业的新型纳米材料。 我们将实施三管齐下的攻击，其中三个方面是（i）纳米填料的合成和表征，（ii）将聚合物与纳米填料共混以获得所需的形态，以及（iii）表征生成的导电聚合物纳米复合材料（CPN）的最终性能。纳米填料结构的合成和操作为研究人员提供了额外的自由度，以从根本上改善CPNs的性能。通过工业和大学的协同合作，我们可以获得定制的纳米填料和新型纳米复合材料。此外，可以生成具有不同CO2水平的不同填料的平台，因此，我们计划启动一个广泛的项目来创建这些纳米复合材料，它们的加工行为及其相应的特性。我们将研究几种聚合物基体，如尼龙6、尼龙6，6、环氧树脂、聚丙烯、聚乙烯和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯。将通过该项目培训四名高素质人员。

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) recycled from petroleum waste products by Carbon Upcycling Technologies (CUT) can be used in polymer nanocomposites to play a significant role in many industrial applications. The University of Calgary (UC) will create new materials collaborating with CUT, by synthesizing composites of GNPs with polymers. These materials have potential to be used in automotive, aerospace's electronics and construction industries. These novel materials also have potential in barrier applications to lower permeability of water vapor, CO2 or other gases. Development of more complex printed circuit boards (PCBs) using polymer composite with graphene-like materials like the GNPs that will be studied in this grant can have significant impact. Considering society's strong desire for sustainability, this recycled filler material allows for reutilization of waste materials while increasing material properties of polymers. We will use the university's polymer processing facilities and characterization infrastructure combined with CUT's GNP manufacturing technology to fabricate novel nano materials that will be translated to Canadian polymer industry. We will implement a three-pronged attack, where the three sides are (i) synthesis and characterization of nanofiller, (ii) blending polymer with nanofiller to obtain desired morphology, and (iii) characterizing the final properties of generated conductive polymer nanocomposites (CPNs). Synthesis and manipulation of nanofiller structure provides researchers with an extra degree of freedom to radically improve properties of CPNs. Via synergy of industry and university collaboration, we can obtain customized nanofillers and novel nano composites. Moreover, a platform of different fillers with different levels of CO2 can be generated, and thus, we plan to initiate an extensive project on creating these nanocomposites, their processing behaviour and their corresponding properties. We will investigate several polymer matrices, such as nylon 6, nylon 6,6, epoxy, polypropylene, polyethylene, and poly(ethylene terephthalate). Four highly qualified personnel will be trained through this project.