Ricerc@Sapienza

In this work a simple cost-effective process is described to obtain a highly piezoresistive coating, consisting of sprayable water-based polyurethane (PU) paint filled with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). We investigated the morphology of the produced nanomaterials (i.e. cross-section and top surface) using a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM). The rheological features of the polymeric blend loaded with 3.5 wt% of GNPs were analyzed at different concentrations of water (up to 20 wt%) in order to achieve a viscosity suitable for air-spraying.

Ionic liquid (IL) fillers, which are composed of polymerized [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, were applied as antistatic agents for polyether-based polyurethane (PU). Surface and volume resistivities of 10 10 Ω sq −1 and 10 8 Ω cm, which are hundred times smaller than those of pristine PU and also are desired values for realizing antistatic effects, were achieved at the concentration of fillers of only 1000 ppm.