• 文献标题:   Ultrafast Fabrication of Graphene-Reinforced Nanocomposites via Synergy of Steam Explosion and Alternating Convergent-Divergent Flow
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   XU WH, HE Y, XIE H, QIN S, TAN LC, WU T, QU JP
  • 作者关键词:   alternating convergentdivergent flow, expanded graphite, highly thermal conductivity, simultaneous exfoliation dispersion, steam explosion
  • 出版物名称:   SMALL
  • ISSN:   1613-6810 EI 1613-6829
  • 通讯作者地址:  
  • 被引频次:   11
  • DOI:   10.1002/smll.202100017 EA JUN 2021
  • 出版年:   2021

▎ 摘  要

Producing high-quality graphene and polymer/graphene nanocomposite is facing the problems of complex procedure, low efficiency, and serious resource waste. To explore a new fabrication approach with high efficiency and low cost is crucial for solving these technical issues, which becomes a current research hotspot and also a great challenge. Herein, a one-step melt mixing strategy based on the synergy of steam explosion and alternating convergent-divergent flow, is innovatively developed to fabricate high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/graphene nanocomposites using industrial-grade expanded graphite (EG) without chemical agents and complex procedures. The co-action of the external force derived from elongational melts and the internal force generated by steam explosion make EG ultrafastly exfoliate into few-layer graphene nanosheets (GNS) and simultaneously disperse in melts within 4 min. The as-produced GNS have a lateral size of over 5 mu m and a minimum thickness of 1.4 nm, can introduce super heterogeneous nucleation to HDPE macromolecules and greatly increases nanocomposite crystallinity up to 86.5%. Moreover, plentiful HDPE crystallites and well-dispersed GNS jointly form an improved thermally-conductive network, making nanocomposites with a rapid-respond ability in solar-to-thermal conversion and heat dissipation. This facile strategy will facilitate the development of scalable production and wide application of high-performance graphene and highly-filled nanocomposites.