Method of compounding graphene with non-conductive particles and applications thereof

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate generally to the production of graphene/polymer compounds. In some embodiments, a method for producing graphene/polymer compounds includes compounding graphene nanoflakes with non-conductive polymer hosts via electrospray coating techniques, taking advantage of the highly electrostatically chargeable properties of graphene to de-agglomerate and further exfoliate the graphene nanoflakes in-situ, and providing uniform and well-dispersed graphene nanoflake coating on various non-conductive polymer hosts, such as polymer fine particles, pellets, fibers, fabrics, non-woven, film, and formed articles. In some embodiments, the deposition of the graphene nanoflakes onto the hosts may be performed in combination with other components, such as but not limited to metal oxides and polymers. The method can be a batch or a continuous process, and is suitable for large scale production of graphene coated materials such as graphene/polymer compound, which can be further processed by, for example, extrusion, compression molding, or injection molding, to yield formed articles.