(654g) Conducting Functionalized Graphene-Filled Elastomer Composites

Composites that are both highly stretchable and electrically conductive have a broad range of applications, from EMI-shielding coatings and seals to highly stretchable actuators, strain sensors, and electrical circuits. For many applications, carbonaceous fillers are used to produce conductive elastomers. However, questions remain as to how new types of carbonaceous materials like carbon nanotubes, graphene, and highly-structured carbon blacks can be effective in enhancing conductivity while maintaining the high extensibility of the material. Here, we consider graphene-based elastomer composites in detail, considering different methods of dispersing sheets into elastomer systems and the effects on the electromechanical properties of the composites. We focus on different routes of functionalized graphene processing from graphite oxide, comparing composites from surfactant-stabilized suspensions of thermally exfoliated graphene to those in which graphene oxide is dispersed into composites and thermally reduced in-situ. Our focus is on understanding how the stretchability and the conductivity of the composites can be tuned independently for material design.