Graphene/epoxy resins: Rheological behavior and morphological analysis by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

This work focuses on the rheological properties and morphological features, assessed by Atomic ForceMicroscopy (AFM), of epoxy composites loaded with two very similar graphene-based nanoplatelets,i.e. GNP56 and GNP60, differing fundamentally for the exfoliation degree (56% and 60%, respectively)and consequently for the concentration of carboxylated groups on the nanoparticle edges. The incorpo-ration of the GNP56 and GNP60 nanostructures inside the epoxy matrix considerably changes the rheo-logical response of the nanofilled resin. The viscoelastic behavior shown by the graphene-based samplesperfectly correlates with the different morphology of the two nanofillers that is congruent with the dif-ference in the exfoliation degree percentage.