Improving barrier properties of polyethylene/Fe2O3-modified nanographene nanocomposites in a magnetic field

The present work aims at improving the barrier properties of high molecular weight Polyethylene/ graphene nanoplatelets (HMWPE/GnP) nanocomposites by aligning the embedded modified graphene nanoparticles in a magnetic field. Graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) were modified by magnetic Fe₂O₃ to produce Fe₂O₃-modified Graphene, GnP-mFe₂O₃. The magnetic properties of Fe₂O₃ were previously characterized by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) method and resulting GnP-mFe₂O₃ nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. HMWPE/GnP nanocomposites were prepared via melt mixing. The prepared nanocomposites were sheeted at high temperatures in a magnetic field using a hot press. The barrier properties of prepared films, HMWPE/GnP and HMWPE/GnP-mFe₂O₃ were characterized by carrying out a permeation to oxygen experiment as a function of GnP and GnP-mFe₂O₃ contents. A decrease in gas transmission rate (GTR) was observed for the samples after being subjected to the magnetic field compared to the non-treated sample. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) experiments confirmed the orientation of GnP-mFe₂O₃ nanoparticles in nanocomposites.