Influence of the graphite type on the synthesis of polypropylene/graphene nanocomposites |
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| Authors: | Marcéo A Milani Raul Quijada Nara R S Basso Ana P Graebin Griselda B Galland |
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| Institution: | 1. Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gon?alves 9500, 91501‐970 Porto Alegre, Brazil;2. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 2777 y CIMAT, Santiago, Chile;3. Faculdade de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul‐Brasil, Av. Ipiranga 6681, 90619‐900 Porto Alegre, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | In this work, the synthesis of polypropylene (PP)/graphene nanosheet (GNS) nanocomposites by in situ polymerization using metallocene catalysts was studied. Initial reactions were performed using rac‐Et(Ind)2ZrCl2 and rac‐Me2Si(Ind)2ZrCl2 catalysts to select the best one to obtain good molecular weight, thermal properties, and tacticity. Subsequently, PP nanocomposites with different loadings of GNS were obtained. GNS from two different sources Graphite Nacional (GN) and Graphite Aldrich (GA)] have been used, and the differences between the obtained nanocomposites were evaluated. The GNS and nanocomposites were studied by scanning electronic microcopy, transmission electronic microcopy, and X‐ray diffraction. They showed that the GN nanosheets had lower crystal size and diameter than the GA nanosheets and dispersed better in the PP matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry analyses of both types of nanocomposites showed an increase in the crystallization temperature with increasing graphite loading. The polymeric materials were also characterized by GPC, thermogravimetric analysis, and 13C NMR. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012 |
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| Keywords: | metallocene catalysts nanocomposites poly(propylene) (PP) synthesis X‐ray |
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