Characterization of Graphene-Polymer Composites with Raman Spectroscopy

Graphene is a super strong, thin material with potential uses in electronics, heat transfer, bio-sensing, membrane technology, battery technology, and advanced composites, to name just a few. By itself, graphene’s applications may be limited, but when combined with other materials such as metals or polymers, the resulting composite may have enhanced strength, durability, or other unique properties such as the ability to conduct heat or electricity and store energy. Graphene and other carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes are being added to polymers to create composite materials with new mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties.

In the right combinations, graphene-polymer composites may have numerous applications. The website Graphene-info cites many examples of current research in this area:

In October 2014, Angstron Materials began offering master batches of graphene-enhanced polymers with superior mechanical, electrical and thermal properties above the base polymer. The materials can be provided in a pellet form or as a strand for use in FDM 3D Printing.
Researchers from India’s VIT University studied a new hybrid material made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and graphene-oxide (GO). They say that the GO enhances the properties of PVC and makes it useful as battery electrode material, and also for membranes and coating applications.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed a single-step process to achieve 3D texturing of graphene and graphite using a commercially available thermally activated shape-memory polymer substrate. The scientists believe that due to the low cost and ease of processing of this approach, it can become a new way to manufacture nanoscale topographies for graphene and many other 2D and thin-film materials.
Researchers from the Korean Sungkyunkwan University announced the development of a sponge-like electrode material using graphene and a polymer that enables the assembly of a light and efficient graphene battery.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently reported on their web site that researchers have demonstrated the first large-scale graphene composite fabrication using layers of graphene and polymers. Graphene’s potential has been limited because only small flakes of the material can be used. However, the ORNL team found that chemical vapor deposition can be used to fabricate polymer composites containing 2-inch-by-2-inch sheets of the one-atom thick hexagonally arranged carbon atoms. Using larger sheets of graphene eliminates the flake dispersion and agglomeration problems and allows the material to better conduct electricity with less actual graphene in the polymer. The findings, reported in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, could change the way this reinforcing material is used.

Graphene is a super-thin, two-dimensional material, consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. Therefore, developing technologies and devices based upon graphene’s unusual properties requires accurate determination of the layer thickness for materials under investigation. Raman spectroscopy can provide a fast, nondestructive means of determining layer thickness for graphene thin films. In our next post, we’ll tell you more about why Raman is an ideal technology to measure graphene.