Assessment of the physico-mechanical, thermal and electrical conductivity of gamma irradiated HDPE/kaolin/graphite nanocomposite

Abstract

In this article, the effect of irradiation dose and incorporated nanoparticles of kaolin (K) and graphite (G) on the lattice structure, thermal analysis, electrical conductivity, morphology, and mechanical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) were studied. Infrared spectroscopy analysis (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize and prove the nanostructure of kaolin and graphite. Subsequently, HDPE was reinforced with a fixed percentage of nanokaolin at 3 phr and different contents of nanographite at 2 and 4 phr via melt-mixing and then molded by the hot press to sheets of suitable thickness. The fabricated sheets will be exposed to various gamma radiation doses at 50, 100, and 150kGy to investigate the impact of ionizing radiation on the prepared nanocomposites. It was found that the presence of a fixed percent of nanokaolin and graphite nanoparticles at 2 phr inside the HDPE matrix improved various properties of the prepared nanocomposites. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of nanokaolin with nanographite and irradiation doses led to the improved crystal structure, thermal analysis, mechanical properties, and electrical conductivity of HDPE nanocomposites.