the synergistic effect of graphene nano-platelets and antioxidant in improving the thermo-oxidative stability of high-density polyethylene

This work reports the possibility of using graphene nano-platelets (gnp) to improve the anti-oxidative efficiency of commercial antioxidant (ao) used in un-stabilized high-density polyethylene (hdpe), which was evaluated in terms of the oxidative-induction time (oit). in this regard, the the gnps, thanks to its physical barrier function and ultrahigh surface area for free radical scavenging, were melt-mixed with hdpe and ao to study the synergistic effect exists between ao and gnp in retarding the degradation of hdpe in oxygen-containng atmosphere. the results showed that the oit of the sample having 0.1 percent gnp (the hd/ao/0.1gnp sample) compared to hd/ao (control sample), is increased about more than 30 min. the synergistic stabilization mechanism between ao and gnp was related to the oxygen barrier effect and radical scavenging efficiency of gnp. this synergistic effect between ao and gnp can efficiently reduce the concentration of oxygen and proxy radicals in the hdpe matrix, leading to the significant improvement in thermo-oxidative stability of hd/ao/gnp nanocomposite.