Graphene nanoplatelet/cellulose acetate film with enhanced antistatic, thermal dissipative and mechanical properties for packaging

With the increased concern over environment protection, cellulose acetate (CA) has drawn great interests as an alternative for packaging material due to its biodegradability and abundant resources; whereas, the poor antistatic property and thermal conductivity restrict its application in packaging. In this work, we proposed a simple but effective strategy to produce high performance graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)/CA composite films via the consecutive homogenization and solvent casting processes. Relying on the spontaneous absorption of CA during homogenization, the GNP/CA produced shows an excellent dispersibility in the N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solution and many fewer structural defects compared with GNPs alone. As a result, the composite films obtained exhibit simultaneously and significantly enhanced antistatic, heat dissipative and mechanical properties compared with CA. Specifically, the GNP/CA composite with the optimal formula has promising overall performances (namely, surface resistivity of 3.33 × 107 Ω/sq, in-plane thermal conductivity of 5.359 W(m·K) , out-of-plane thermal conductivity of 0.785 W(m·K) , and tensile strength of 37.1 MPa). Featured by its promising overall properties, simple production processes and biodegradability, the as-prepared GNP/CA composite film shows a great potential for application in packaging.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10570-023-05155-2.