Highly Antistatic Polypropylene/Polyaniline Coated Graphene Nanocomposites

Polypropylene (PP) is a commodity polymer widely used for many practical applications including structural materials for electronic devices and automobiles, packaging, and fuel cells. Reinforcing PP with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) increases the multifunctionality of PP. Higher GNP content in PP enhanced the electrical properties of the material. However, a uniform mixture of GNP in the material is difficult to achieve because of the poor dispersion compatibility between PP and GNP. The GNP tends to agglomerate due to inherent van der Waal forces. In this study, GNP was encapsulated with polyaniline (PANI) to improve the dispersion as well as compatibility with PP. The PANI-GNP nanocomposites were synthesized by in-situ polymerization, and concentrations of nanofiller in PANI-GNP/PP composites were varied at 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%. The dispersion and compatibility were validated by various characterization techniques such as FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM. In addition, mechanical and electrical properties were studied using DMA, DSC, TGA, flexural test, un-notched impact strength, and resistivity. The electrical conductivity and mechanical tests confirmed that 10 wt% PANI-GNP filled PP can make the best antistatic material with improved mechanical strength.