Adding fillers reinforces the modulus of the polymer, but the ductility is sacrificed. Such a phenomenon is especially true for brittle polymers like polystyrene (PS). Nanofillers are known to solve the problem because the high aspect ratio and surface area may improve the stiffness at a much lower loading level, and thus significantly reduce the ductility. However, the dispersion of nanofillers is always challenging. In the current investigation, PS nanocomposites were prepared by melt compounding, ultrasonication, and solution compounding to investigate the effect of the addition of the following carbon nanomaterial to the mechanical properties: nanographite (H25), multiwalled carbon nanotube, carbon nanofiber, and thermally reduced graphene (TRG). Among them, TRG exhibited the best reinforcing effect. Young's modulus of PS increased by 27% with only 0.1 wt% loading of TRG, and the ductility remained unchanged. Such an improvement has rarely been reported in thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites. The results were carefully analyzed and compared with those reported in the available literature. In this study, the solution compounding method offered the best modulus value. The aspect ratio of carbon nanomaterials in the composite was estimated by the Halpin‐Tsai equation. These estimations agree well with the transmission electron microscopy microstructure results.

中文翻译：

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具有优异机械性能的聚苯乙烯/碳纳米复合材料的制备

添加填料可增强聚合物的模量，但会延展性。对于诸如聚苯乙烯（PS）的脆性聚合物，这种现象尤其如此。已知纳米填料解决了该问题，因为高纵横比和表面积可在低得多的载荷水平下提高刚度，从而显着降低延展性。然而，纳米填料的分散总是具有挑战性的。在当前的研究中，通过熔融复合，超声处理和溶液复合制备PS纳米复合材料，以研究添加以下碳纳米材料对机械性能的影响：纳米石墨（H25），多壁碳纳米管，碳纳米纤维和热还原石墨烯（TRG）。其中，TRG表现出最好的增强效果。年轻' PS的模量仅增加0.1 wt％的TRG时增加了27％，而延展性保持不变。在热塑性聚合物纳米复合材料中很少报道这种改善。仔细分析了结果，并与现有文献中报道的结果进行了比较。在这项研究中，溶液混合法提供了最佳的模量值。复合材料中碳纳米材料的长宽比通过Halpin-Tsai方程估算。这些估计与透射电子显微镜的显微结构结果非常吻合。溶液混合法提供了最佳的模量值。复合材料中碳纳米材料的长宽比通过Halpin-Tsai方程估算。这些估计与透射电子显微镜的显微结构结果非常吻合。溶液混合法提供了最佳的模量值。复合材料中碳纳米材料的长宽比通过Halpin-Tsai方程估算。这些估计与透射电子显微镜的显微结构结果非常吻合。