Elastomer nanocomposites containing MXene for mechanical robustness and electrical and thermal conductivity

Abstract

A novel 2D nanomaterial, Ti3C2 MXene, added conductivity and reinforcement to a common elastomer, nitrile butadiene rubber. X-ray diffraction revealed the intercalation of lithium ions and elastomer chains into MXene galleries, which enabled exfoliation in the elastomer. By a stepwise Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the reaction between MXene and NBR was proved. With increase in MXene fraction, electrical and thermal conductivity of the composite increased to 9 × 10-05 Scm-1 and 0.69 Wm-1K-1, respectively. At only 2.8 vol% MXene, a swelling ratio of 1.61 was achieved, representing a 75% reduction compared to NBR/reduced graphene oxide and carbon nanotube nanocomposites containing the same filler fraction. Tensile tests showed that with increase in MXene content, Young's modulus increased while both tensile strength and elongation increased first and then decreased. Overall, emulsion compounding proved to be an efficient technique for forming NBR/MXene nanocomposites. The revealed reaction between MXene and NBR to create functional polymer nanocomposites would provide a platform for utilising MXene in other polymers.