Conducting Polymer Nanocomposites with Graphene

Graphene/polymer composites have attracted a great deal of attention because of their wide applications in high-strength and conductive 

Among the composites of graphene/polymer, graphene/CPs can be produced not only by in situ chemical polymerization but also by in situ electrochemical polymerization [149,150]. Electrochemical polymerization yields mechanically stable composite films and they can be directly used as the electrodes of energy storage devices. Furthermore, electrochemical polymerization can be precisely controlled by the applied potential, current density, and polymerization time. 

Biosensors are classified depending upon different criteria like type of bio receptors, transducers and different types of physical and chemical interaction. Depending upon type of bioactive components, biosensors can be classified as  

Catalytic biosensors These are kinetic devices that measure steady-state concentration of a transducer-detectable species formed/lost due to a biocatalytic reaction. 

Bioaffinity biosensors These are devices in which receptor molecules bind analyte molecules irreversibly, causing a physicochemical change that is detected by a transducer. Receptor molecules  

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Tang C, Long G, Hu X, K-w Wong, W-m Lau, Fan M, Mei J, Xu T, Wang B, Hui D (2014) Conductive polymer nanocomposites with hitftarchical multi-scale stiuctures via self-assembly of carbon-nanotubes on graphene on polymer-microspheres. Nanoscale 6 7877... 

Wang, W, Xu, G., Cui, X. T, Sheng, G., and Luo, X. (2014). Enhanced catatytic and dopamine sensing properties of electrochemically reduced conducting polymer nanocomposites doped with pure graphene oxide. Biosen. Bioelectron., 58, pp. 153-156. 

Graphene-polymer nanocomposites share with other nanocomposites the characteristic of remarkable improvements in properties and percolation thresholds at very low filler contents. Although the majority of research has focused on polymer nanocomposites based on layered materials of natural origin, such as an MMT type of layered silicate compounds or synthetic clay (layered double hydroxide), the electrical and thermal conductivity of clay minerals are quite poor [177]. To overcome these shortcomings, carbon-based nanofillers, such as CB, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and graphite have been introduced to the preparation of polymer nanocomposites. Among these, carbon nanotubes have proven to be very effective as conductive fillers. An important drawback of them as nanofillers is their high production costs, which... 

Two-dimensional nanostructures have two dimensions outside of the nanometric size range, such as nanoplates, nanosheets, and nanodisks. Graphene is a typical two-dimensional film, which is composed of a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp -bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed into a honeycomb crystal lattice. This material exhibits a high electrical conductivity, a high surface area of over 2600 m g , an elevated chemical tolerance, and a broad electrochemical window. Therefore, they were used to form two-dimensional nanocomposites with polymers. The graphene not only increases the electrical conductivity of the polymer, but also enhance its mechanical stability. Conducting polymers with various hierarchical structures have been deposited on... 

Xiong, X., Wang, J., Jia, H., Fang, E., Ding, L. Stmcmre, thermal conductivity, and thermal stability of bromobutyl mbber nanocomposites with ionic hquid modified graphene oxide. Polym. Degrad. Stab. 98, 2208-2214 (2013)... 

Recent studies showed that graphite nanoplatelets (GNP) or graphene could be used as a viable and inexpensive filler substitute for (3NTs (Fukushima and Drzal 2003). Typical values of the electrical percolation thresholds, which have been reported in the literature for graphene-based nanocomposites for selected polymer matrices, are presented in Table 13.3. The influence of graphene loading on the conductivity of one of the composites presented in Table 13.3 is shown in Fig. 13.2b. One can see that the electrical percolation thresholds achieved with graphene-based nanocomposites are often compared with those reported for CNT/polymer composites. 

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