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The role of cavitation in the toughening of elastomer nanocomposites reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets

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Abstract

The toughening of different types of elastomers through the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) has been investigated. Both the tear strength and tearing energy are increased significantly through a combination of mechanisms such as debonding, pull-out and cavitation. The processes that occur ahead of a tear/crack tip in natural rubber filled with GNPs have been monitored in situ using synchrotron-based X-ray computed tomography. The GNP particles are found to debond and form voids that grow under stress leading to considerable energy absorption. The mechanisms of cavitation and void growth are analysed theoretically and it is shown that voids need to be larger than ∼1 μm in size to grow in the triaxial tensile stress field ahead of the tear/crack tip. The high level of cavitation and void growth found for the elastomers filled with micron-sized GNP particles is suggested to be the reason why these nanocomposites have a high tear resistance.
Original languageEnglish
Article number108269
JournalComposites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Early online date13 May 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 13 May 2024

Keywords

  • Nanocomposites
  • Graphene
  • Failure
  • X-ray CT analysis

Research Highlights, Institutes and Platforms

  • National Graphene Institute

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