Waterborne polyurethane as dispersant for liquid exfoliation of graphite to graphene

• Main Author: Loh, Pei Shan
• Other Authors: Lu Xuehong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66382
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Graphene’s extraordinary properties such as high charge carrier mobility, high thermal conductivity, exceptional Young modulus, large spring constant, making it an ideal nanofillers for the production of nanocomposites. However, it is difficult to produce high quality of graphene in large scale. Despite the various surfactants used in liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE), little has been done in understanding the effect of each type of surfactant on exfoliation. In this project, high concentration dispersion of graphene using polyurethane as dispersant was produced. Secondly, this high concentration dispersion of graphene was used to prepare PU/graphene nanocomposite. The graphene dispersion and its nanocomposites are characterized using various characterization techniques such as UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM).