Title | Green Composites of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Containing Graphene Nanoplatelets with Desirable Electrical Conductivity and Oxygen Barrier Properties |
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Type | Journal article |
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Authors | Papadopoulou, E.L., Basnett, P., Paul, U.C., Marras, S., Ceseracciu, L., Roy, I. and Athanassiou, A. |
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Abstract | Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), a green polymer originating from prokaryotic microbes, has been used to prepare composites with graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) at different concentrations. The films were fabricated by drop-casting and were hot-pressed at a temperature lower than their melting point to provide the molecular chains enough energy to reorientate while avoiding melting and degradation. It was found that hot-pressing increases crystallinity and improves mechanical properties. The Young’s modulus increased from 1.2 to 1.6 GPa for the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB)) films and from 0.5 to 2.2 GPa for the 15 wt % P(3HB)/GnP composites. Electrical resistivity decreases enormously with GnP concentration and hot-pressing, reaching 6 Ω sq–1 for the hot-pressed 30 wt % P(3HB)/GnP composite. Finally, the hot-pressed P(3HB) samples exhibit remarkable oxygen barrier properties, with oxygen permeability reaching 2800 mL μm m–2 day–1, which becomes 895 mL μm m–2 day–1 when 15% GnP is added to the biopolymer matrix, one of the lowest values known for biopolymers and biocomposites. We propose that these biocomposites are used for elastic packaging and electronics. |
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Journal | ACS Omega |
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Journal citation | 4 (22), pp. 19746-19755 |
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ISSN | 2470-1343 |
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| 2470-1343 |
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Year | 2019 |
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Publisher | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
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Publisher's version | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b02528 |
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Web address (URL) | http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b02528 |
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Publication dates |
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Published | 12 Nov 2019 |
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