Nanocomposite additives based on graphene sheets and silica nanofibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10676586-B2
Application number	US-201816000975-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2018
Priority date	Jun 6, 2017
Publication date	Jun 9, 2020
Grant date	Jun 9, 2020

Abstract

A method for producing a composite polymeric article, an additive for a polymeric article, and a composite polymeric article are provided. The method generally includes providing a plurality of graphene nanoplatelets, providing a plurality of silica nanofibers, providing a polymeric material, and distributing the plurality of silica nanofibers and the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets within the polymeric material to achieve a composite article. The additive for a polymeric article includes a plurality of graphene nanoplatelets and a plurality of silica nanofibers. The composite polymeric article includes a plurality of graphene nanoplatelets, a plurality of silica nanofibers, and a polymeric matrix. The plurality of graphene nanoplatelets and the plurality of silica nanofibers are distributed within the polymeric matrix. The silica nanofibers have a mean cross sectional diameter of not more than 100 nm.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of producing a composite polymeric article comprising:
providing a plurality of graphene nanoplatelets;
providing a plurality of silica nanofibers, wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers have a mean cross sectional diameter of not more than 100 nm;
providing a polymeric material; and
distributing the plurality of silica nanofibers and the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets within the polymeric material to achieve a composite article.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers are fabricated by electrospinning of a sol-gel precursor.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sol-gel precursor is prepared by hydrolysis of a silicate in the presence of a catalyst, an amphiphilic polymer, and a solvent.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers are calcinated and modified to generate hydrophobicity.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers are modified with a silane.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers and the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets are distributed within the polymeric material by solution blending.

7. A composite polymeric article comprising:
a plurality of graphene nanoplatelets;
a plurality of silica nanofibers, wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers have a mean cross sectional diameter of not more than 100 nm; and
a polymeric matrix, wherein the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets and the plurality of silica nanofibers are distributed within the polymeric matrix.

8. The article of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets constitutes less than 1 percent by volume of the composite polymeric article.

9. The article of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of graphene nanoplatelets constitutes less than 5 percent by weight of the polymeric matrix.

10. The article of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers constitutes between 20 percent and 25 percent of the volume of the composite polymeric article.

11. The article of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of silica nanofibers constitutes less than approximately 20 percent by weight of the polymeric matrix.

12. The article of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric matrix is an elastomeric polymer.

13. The article of claim 12 , wherein the polymeric matrix is a styrene-butadiene rubber.

14. The article of claim 7 , wherein the composite polymeric article comprises additional fillers.

15. The article of claim 7 , wherein the composite polymeric article is a tire or an element thereof, a mechanical belt or an element thereof, a bumper or an element thereof, a shoe sole or an element thereof, a damper or an element thereof, or a shock mount or an element thereof.

Assignees

• Ut Battelle Llc

Inventors

• Polyzos Georgios
• Sharma Jaswinder K
• Vlassiouk Ivan V
• Schaffer Daniel A
• Datskos Panagiotis G
• Laclair Timothy J
• Park Jaehyeung

Classifications

• C08K3/36

  Silica · CPC title

• C08K3/042 Primary

  Graphene or derivatives, e.g. graphene oxides · CPC title

• D10B2101/06

  Glass · CPC title

• D01F9/08

  of inorganic material (working or processing of metal wire B21F; from softened glass, minerals or slags C03B37/00) · CPC title

• C08K2201/006

  Additives being defined by their surface area · CPC title