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A Comparison Of The Elastic Properties Of Graphene- And Fullerene-Reinforced Polymer Composites: The Role Of Filler Morphology And Size, Chang-Tsan Lu, Asanka Weerasinghe, Dimitrios Maroudas, Ashwin Ramasubramaniam

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publication Series

Nanoscale carbon-based fillers are known to significantly alter the mechanical and electrical properties of polymers even at relatively low loadings. We report results from extensive molecular-dynamics simulations of mechanical testing of model polymer (high-density polyethylene) nanocomposites reinforced by nanocarbon fillers consisting of graphene flakes and fullerenes. By systematically varying filler concentration, morphology, and size, we identify clear trends in composite stiffness with reinforcement. To within statistical error, spherical fullerenes provide a nearly size-independent level of reinforcement. In contrast, two-dimensional graphene flakes induce a strongly size-dependent response: we find that flakes with radii in the 2–4 nm range provide appreciable enhancement …