Composite material including three-dimensional (3D) graphene

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12006388-B2
Application number	US-202217708574-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2022
Priority date	Mar 30, 2022
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

A composite material is provided. In some aspects, the composite material may include a combination of a thermoplastic resin mixed with a polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PPgMA). Carbon particles may be mixed in the combination. In this way, the composite material may include between 80 wt. % and 90 wt. % of the thermoplastic resin, between 0.5 wt. % and 15 wt. % of PPgMA, and between 0.1 wt. % to 7 wt. % of carbon particles. Carbon particles may have exposed carbon surfaces with carbon atoms bonded to molecular sites on adjacent PPgMA molecules. At least some carbon atoms may be oxidized with one or more of oxygen-containing groups. Oxidation of carbon atoms may be associated with an increase in at least some PPgMA molecules chemically bonding with adjacent carbon atoms per unit volume. In this way, interaction between carbon atoms and PPgMA molecules may maintain composite material density within +/−3% of thermoplastic resin density.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A composite material comprising:
a combination of a thermoplastic resin mixed with a polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PPgMA);
a plurality of carbon particles mixed in the combination, the plurality of carbon particles including a first predefined region having a relatively low concentration of carbon particles per unit volume and a second predefined region having a relatively high concentration of carbon particles per unit volume, at least some of the plurality of carbon particles having exposed carbon surfaces with carbon atoms bonded to molecular sites on adjacent PPgMA molecules and oxidized with one or more oxygen-containing groups; and
a plurality of pores formed in the plurality of carbon particles mixed in the combination, at least some of the plurality of pores configured to be infiltrated by PPgMA, wherein the oxidation of the carbon atoms is associated with an increase in at least some PPgMA chemically bonding with adjacent carbon atoms per unit volume.

2. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein interaction between at least some of the carbon atoms and adjacent PPgMA molecules is associated with a density of the composite material being within +/−3% of a density of the thermoplastic resin.

3. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material comprises:
between 80 wt. % and 90 wt. % of the thermoplastic resin;
between 0.5 wt. % and 15 wt. % of PPgMA; and
between 0.1 wt. % to 7 wt. % of carbon particles.

4. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a viscosity between 2,100 pascal-seconds (Pa-s) and 500 Pa-s.

5. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material is post-processed by injection molding.

6. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a flexural modulus between 107,500 pounds per square inch (PSI) and 117,500 PSI at a temperature of 23° C. under ASTM D.790 at a 1% secant modulus value.

7. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a tunable melt flow rate between 4 grams per min (g/min) to 8 g/min at a temperature of 190° C.

8. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the composite material has a maximum tensile elongation of up to 500% relative to an original size.

9. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein interaction between carbon particles and PPgMA is associated with an increase in mechanical reinforcement of the composite material between 1,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) to 1,100 PSI per one part per hundred (1 ppH) of PPgMA.

10. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin includes a linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) resin including one or more of an ethylene-butene copolymer or alpha-olefins.

11. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the carbon atoms are configured to change chemical bonding behavior associated with surrounding atoms of the thermoplastic resin and PPgMA molecules by chemically reacting with the PPgMA molecules.

12. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the carbon atoms are configured to change rheological properties of the composite material by chemically reacting with the PPgMA.

13. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein a viscosity of the composite material decreases proportionately to increases in loading levels of PPgMA within the composite material.

14. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of carbon particles further comprises:
a plurality of non-tri-zone particles;
a plurality of tri-zone particles, each tri-zone particle including:
a plurality of carbon fragments intertwined with each other and separated from one another by mesopores; and
a deformable perimeter configured to coalesce with one or more adjacent non-tri-zone particles or tri-zone particles.

15. The composite material of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of carbon particles further comprises:
a plurality of aggregates, each aggregate including a multitude of the tri-zone particles joined together, each aggregate having a principal dimension in a range between 10 nanometers (nm) and 10 micrometers (μm);
a plurality of mesopores interspersed throughout the plurality of aggregates, each mesopore having a principal dimension between 3.3 nanometers (nm) and 19.3 nm;
a plurality of agglomerates, each agglomerate including a multitude of the aggregates joined to each other, each agglomerate having a principal dimension in an approximate range between 0.1 μm and 1,000 μm; and
a plurality of macropores interspersed throughout the plurality of aggregates, each macropore having a principal dimension between 0.1 μm and 1,000 μm.

16. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the PPgMA includes between 0.0 wt. %-1.3 wt. % maleic anhydride (MA) and between 98.7 wt. %-100 wt. % polypropylene (PP).

17. The composite material of claim 14 , wherein at least some of the plurality of carbon particles are configured as a plurality of nano-reinforcing members within the composite material.

18. The composite material of claim 17 , wherein maleic anhydride is configured to react with at least some of the plurality of nano-reinforcing members.

19. The composite material of claim 17 , wherein polypropylene is configured to increase interfacial interaction between at least some of the plurality of nano-reinforcing members and the thermoplastic resin.

20. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of carbon particles are formed from one or more of a plurality of interconnected crinkled 3D graphene sheets or a plurality of non-hollow carbonaceous spherical particles (NHCS).

21. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of carbon particles include at least some carbon atoms chemically bonded to adjacent atoms of one or more of the thermoplastic resin or PPgMA.

22. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein inclusion of additional carbon particles in the composite material is associated with an increase in one or more of a flexural modulus or a tensile strength of the composite material.

23. The composite material of claim 22 , wherein the increase in the tensile strength is between 30% to 100% relative to composite materials that do not include carbon particles.

24. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein the PPgMA is configured as a compatibilizer between the plurality of carbon particles and the thermoplastic resin.

25. The composite material of claim 1 , wherein each pore has a pore volume between 0.05 cubic centimeters per gram (cm 3 /g) and 1.5 cm 3 /g.

Assignees

• Lyten Inc

Inventors

• Anzelmo Bryce H
• Khan Salik
• Baldwin John
• Macias Minedys
• Kc Chandra B

Classifications

• C08F2500/08

  Low density, i.e. < 0.91 g/cm3 · CPC title

• C08F2500/30

  Flexural modulus; Elasticity modulus · CPC title

• C08K2201/005

  Additives being defined by their particle size in general · CPC title

• C08K2201/011

  Nanostructured additives · CPC title

• C08J2323/12

  Polypropene · CPC title