Fabrication of High-Performance PP/Graphene Nanocomposites via Friedel–Crafts

In the past few years, graphene-based nanocomposites are a hot topic in the fields of materials and chemistry owing to their unique features. We describe a facile melt blending method for preparing polypropylene/graphene nanocomposites in this article. The first stage involved grafting graphene onto chlorinated PP using the Friedel–Crafts reaction. The second stage involved the use of the resulting PP grafted graphene (PPG) as fillers in a melt blend with commercial PP. After being grafted with an organic PP chain, graphene becomes lipophilic; consequently, the PPG can be dispersed well within the PP matrix while retaining excellent interface adhesion. As a result, the thermostability, mechanical performance, and electrical conductivity of PP were significantly improved through the addition of PPG fillers. Additionally, with 10 wt% of PPG fillers (equivalent to 5 wt% graphene sheets), the conductivity approaches 6.8 S m⁻¹. As a result of this research, a new method for producing high-performance PP has been developed. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].