THEMATIC PRIORITIES: Nanocomposites and nanomaterials
Mechanical and Thermal properties of graphene filled polymer composites
Shu-Lin BAI, Haoming FANG, Yanjuan REN, Yafei ZHANG
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, No.5 Yi-He-Yuan Road, Hai-Dian District, 100871 Beijing, China
Email: slbai@pku.edu.cn

The graphene is employed to make high performance polymer composites which have good mechanical and thermal properties. Both 2D graphene sheets and 3D graphene foam were separately filled into polymer matrix to get nanocomposites. The mechanical properties by tension and dynamic analysis were tested and thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and thermal stability were measured. It is found that 2D graphene sheets can well increse the elastic modulus of polymer, while tensile strength and elongation at break may decrease [1]. At the same time, thermal properties were improved. Compared to 2D graphene sheets, 3D graphene foam is much effective in the reinforcemnt of thermal properties and mechanical properties [2, 3]. This is attributed to the interconnected structure of graphene foam which can resist the deformation and also enhance the heat transfer ability. The thermal conductivity of graphene foam filled composite is about 300% that of pure matrix. The coefficient of thermal expansion is (80–137) 106/K within 25–150C, much lower than those of graphene sheets filled composite and pure matrix. By adding second filler such as carbon fiber, carbon black or multilayer graphene sheets into the graphene foam/polymer composites, both mechanical and thermal properties of composites are further improved.
1.	Y. H. Zhao, Z. K. Wu and S. L. Bai, Study on thermal properties of graphene foam/graphene sheets filled polymer composites, Composites: Part A-2015, -72, -P. 200-206.
2.	Yun-Hong Zhao, Ya-Fei Zhang and Shu-Lin Bai, High thermal conductivity of flexible polymer composites due to synergistic effect of multilayer graphene flakes and graphene foam, Composites Part A-2016, -85.-P. 148-155