Investigation of the Synergistic Effect of Graphene and Tamol <scp>NN</scp> on the Thermomechanical Behavior of <scp>HDPE</scp> Nanocomposites

ABSTRACT In this study, the thermomechanical characterization of the high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites reinforced with graphene as the nanofiller and Tamol NN as the dispersant to increase the filler distribution is discussed. The nanocomposites were prepared through the melt compounding method, and the nanocomposite sheets were produced through compression‐molding. This study was conducted to understand the effect of graphene loading (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 wt%) on the mechanical and thermal properties of the HDPE matrix. The tensile tests were used to analyze the mechanical characteristics of the samples, and it was determined that the addition of graphene resulted in significant enhancement of elastic modulus (EM) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of nanocomposites with the most significant improvement in EM and UTS (increase of 97.27% and 50.77%, respectively) observed at 2.0 wt% of graphene (BT4) loading as compared to virgin HDPE. The nanocomposites were found to have improved thermal stability with greater onset degradation temperature (357.46°C in case of BT4) and greater char residue than virgin HDPE as revealed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) findings showed that an increase in graphene content led to a rise in the degree of crystallinity by 14.68% (BT4) contrasted to virgin HDPE. These findings suggested that the fabrication of HDPE nanocomposites incorporating graphene and Tamol NN dispersant can enhance thermal and mechanical properties for their use in advanced engineering applications in which thermomechanical stability is essential.