Tunable Mechanical, Electrical, and Thermal Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites through GMA Bridging at Interface

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) have become an exciting field of current research and have attracted a huge interest among both academia and industry during the last few decades. However, the multifunctional single-nanocomposite film exhibiting the combination of desired structure and properties still remains a big challenge. Herein, we report a novel strategy to address these problems by using versatile polymer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) as a bridging medium between the filler and the polymer matrix, resulting in high density of interfaces as well as strong interactions, which lead to generation of tunable thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties in the materials. The nanocomposites prepared by GMA bridging exhibit the remarkable combination of thermal ( T _d = 342.2 °C, T _g = 150.1 °C ), mechanical ( E = 7.6 Gpa and H = 0.45 Gpa ) and electrical (σ = 3.15 × 10 ⁻⁵ S/cm) properties. Hence, the conjugation approaches related to GMA bridging facilitate a new paradigm for producing multifunctional polymer nanocomposites having a unique combination of multifunctional properties, which can be potentially used in next-generation polymer-based advanced functional devices.