Mechanical and Acoustic Characteristics of Polymer Nanocomposites

The polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) filled with either graphene particles or its derivatives attract considerable interest due to possibility to tailor physical and chemical properties of PNCs encountered with only a small quantity of nanofiller incorporated to the host polymer matrix. Numerous studies have shown that polymer nanocomposites filled with single-layer graphene nanosheets (SLG), multi-layered or platelet graphene (MLG), as well as their oxides and chemically modified derivatives exhibit substantial property enhancements at much lower loadings than with other conventional nanofillers. On the other hand, it is recognized in the literature, that the overall physical and chemical behavior of PNCs is significantly influenced not only by intrinsic properties, geometry, and spatial distribution of embedded nanoparticles but also by the presence of so-called interphase layers (IPLs) arising in the vicinity of nanoparticles. In particular, IPLs play an important role in governing the stress transfer over polymer–nanofiller interface and, thus, in controlling the failure mechanisms and fracture toughness of a PNC. The size of the interphase region can be discovered from ultrasonic measurements, thereby acoustic wave propagation methods are of great importance in polymer–graphene nanocomposites experimental investigations.