Novel Polymer Nanocomposites with Recycled Carbon Materials

通过碳升级回收技术（CUT）从石油废弃物中回收的石墨烯纳米片（GNPs）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）将通过与聚合物合成GNPs复合材料，与CUT合作创造新材料。这些材料有潜力用于汽车、航空航天、电子和建筑行业。这些新材料也有潜力在屏障应用，以降低水蒸气，二氧化碳或其他气体的渗透率。使用石墨烯类材料（如GNPs）的聚合物复合材料开发更复杂的印刷电路板（pcb）将产生重大影响。考虑到社会对可持续发展的强烈愿望，这种可回收的填充材料允许废物的再利用，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，制造新型纳米材料，并将其转化为加拿大的聚合物工业。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混合以获得所需的形态，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，从根本上改善CPNs的性能。通过产学研的协同合作，我们可以获得定制的纳米填料和新型纳米复合材料。此外，不同的填料和不同水平的二氧化碳可以产生一个平台，因此，我们计划启动一个广泛的项目来创造这些纳米复合材料，它们的加工行为和相应的特性。我们将研究几种聚合物基质，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酯。通过这个项目将培养出四名高素质的人才。

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.