Preparation and characterization of exfoliated graphite and its styrene butadiene rubber nanocomposites

Nanocomposites consisting of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) reinforced with the modified-graphite and natural-graphite with concentrations of 5 wt% were fabricated. Processing techniques such as acid treatment, thermal shock, sonication were employed in the fabrication of modified-graphite.The graphite platelets oxidized using sulfuric and nitric acids were analyzed by the Raman scattering, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FT-IR results indicate the presence of acid groups in the treated samples, and Raman spectroscopy of acid-graphite platelets further corroborate the formation of surface defect due to the introduction of functional groups. However, the structure of XRD peaks did not change irrespective of processing techniques.The SBR-based nanocomposites were characterized using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), rheometer, Instron tensile machine, thermal and electrical analyser.The results showed that nanocomposites onto acid-graphite platelets enhanced mechanical properties and fatigue properties of nanocomposites compared to those containing natural-graphite due to the increase in the interaction between the polymer and the modified-graphite. And the dynamic properties of nanocomposites had no influence according to the processing techniques. Also, thermal and electrical properties of nanocomposites using acid-graphite platelets were enhanced due to the broadened specific surface by the acid treatment.