Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment
School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering
School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Abstract
Recently, elastomer-based nanocomposites have attracted extensive interest due to great enhancement for the most properties at low filler fractions. The mechanical, thermal, dynamic mechanical, and barrier properties of elstomers can be significantly improved when nanofillers are incorporated into elastomers. Carbon black produced from petroleum is the most common filler used in rubbers but it is used at high weight percentages (>20 wt.%). This high loading fractions decreases the processability of the rubber material. During past decades, nanoclay has been developed as a colourless fillers for the rubber materials, providing good enhancement for mechanical properties. However, nanoclay provides no electrical and thermal conductivity since it is nonconductive. In recent years, carbon nanotubes have attracted great interest because of their exceptional functional properties. Nevertheless, they are still expensive in manufacturing. By contrast, graphene is a new material with cost-effective and extremely high specific surface area. It is known that the graphene is the strongest material that the mankind knows until now. This research project relates to the development of novel elastomeric nanocomposites using graphene.
