Interaction of nanofillers in injection-molded graphene/carbon nanotube reinforced PA66 hybrid nanocomposites

Interaction of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets within injection-molded thermoplastic-based nanocomposites is investigated. The research shows how the nanofillers’ combination ratio and content influence the properties in the semicrystalline thermoplastic-based composites. Three main groups of polyamide-based composite specimens containing either or both of the nanofillers are prepared. Results show that the single inclusion of the nanomaterials improves the mechanical and thermal properties significantly. However, the combined incorporation of both the nanofillers in the polymeric matrix does not lead to the linear combination of the observed behaviors. While the mechanical properties and the degrees of crystallinity improve, the thermal conductivities decrease in the hybrid composites for similar nanofiller contents. Rheological and crystallization investigations also showed the dominant influence of the nanotubes in the structure of the hybrid composites.The underlying mechanisms of modulation in the properties were also investigated in detail.