Composites of 2D Nanomaterials and Polymers

The project is focused on the factors which govern the exfoliation of 2D nanomaterials, such as graphene and its derivatives and, boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) during melt mixing with polymers. An attempt will be made to understand processing-structure-property relationships for such composite materials. Both the 2D and composite materials will be studied using a wide range of techniques, such as SEM/TEM/STEM/AFM; DSC/TGA/DMA; XPS and XRD/WAXS/SAXS. The 2D nanomaterials will be dispersed in three model polymer systems; i) a semi-crystalline polymer so as to study the effect of nanofiller addition on the crystallization kinetics of the polymer; ii) an amorphous polymer so the effect of nanofiller on polymer chain dynamics can be investigated and also iii) a block copolymer so the effect of nanofiller confinement and on block copolymer phase morphology.

This project is directly aligned with the EPSRC research area's of Graphene and Carbon Nanotechnology, Materials Engineering -Composites and Polymer Materials and related to the EPSRC research area in Surface Science.