Graphene nanoribbon: fundamental aspects in polymeric nanocomposite

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an overview of unique carbon nanostructure graphene nanoribbon (GNR). GNR is a thin elongated strip of sp²-bonded carbon atoms with a narrow width of ≤10 nm. The electronic, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and magnetic properties of GNR make it an attractive nanofiller in polymeric nanocomposite. Polyaniline, poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(vinylidene fluoride), poly(vinyl alcohol), polystyrene, polyethylene, epoxy, and polyamide have been explored with GNR so far. Despite of outstanding potential of polymer/GNR nanocomposite, not much research is found in this area. Few application areas of polymer/GNR nanocomposite discovered till now are related to sensor, supercapacitor, fuel cell, and electromagnetic interference shielding materials.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Graphene nanoribbon
• polymer
• nanocomposite
• sensor

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayesha Kausar

Ayesha Kausar work at National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. She has previously worked for National Centre for Physics and Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. She obtained her PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad/KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), Graduate School of EEWS, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. Her research interests include: synthesis, characterization and structure-property relationships of new polymeric materials; synthesis of nanomaterials including organic–inorganic nanocomposites/hybrid materials; polymeric blends via incorporating nanoparticles into thin polymer films; exploring practical and potential prospects of the novel synthesized materials (new polymers and nanomaterials) counting morphological, mechanical, thermal, electrical, conducting, etc.; flame retardant materials; proton conducting fuel cell membranes; nanocomposites for polymer Li-ion battery electrodes; composites based on electrospun nanofibers; production of various polymeric nanoparticles and their composites for solar cells; polymer/carbon nanotube/nanoparticle composites for water treatment; potential of polymer/graphite nanocomposites; polymer/graphene hybrids; polymer/fullerene nanomaterials; fabrication of epoxy-based nanocomposite for various applications; radar absorbing materials; aerospace relevance, and other technical relevances.