Electrical, EMI shielding and tensile properties of PP/PE blends filled with GNP:CNT hybrid nanofiller

• PP/PE blends filled with GNP:CNT hybrid nanofiller were prepared by melt mixing.
• The CNT and GNP showed thermodynamic affinity towards the PE phase.
• The 1D CNT is more effective than the 2D GNP in building conductive networks.
• The nanofiller geometry should be considered in designing hybrid nanocomposites.
• Tensile strength was found to increase with the decrease in GNP:CNT volume fraction.

Polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene (PE) blends filled with 5 vol% graphene nanoplatelets: carbon nanotube (GNP:CNT) hybrid nanofiller were prepared by melt mixing. The blends’ microstructure and the influence of GNP:CNT volume ratio on the electrical, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and tensile strength were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the CNT and GNP are localized in the PE phase. The electrical conductivity and EMI shielding were found to increase with the increase in CNT volume fraction due to the 1D geometry of the CNT that is more effective than the 2D geometry of the GNP in building conductive networks. This finding indicates that not only the nanofiller conductivity but also the nanofiller geometry should be considered in designing hybrid nanocomposite materials. Moreover, the tensile strength was found to increase with the decrease in GNP:CNT volume ratio due to the good adhesion between the CNT particles and the PE phase compared to the almost no adhesion between the GNP particles and the PE phase.