Preparation of graphene intercalated magnesium silicate for enhancing the thermal stability and thermal conductivity of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer

Abstract Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) is a kind of thermoplastic resin with wide range of application. However, the enhancement of thermal resistance properties of EVA is still challenging. Herein, an effective approach is reported for the preparation of graphene nanosheets intercalated magnesium silicate (MS@GN) hybrids, which were employed as nano-additives for improving the thermal resistance properties and thermal conductivity of EVA. By controlling the content of MS@GN, 0.2 wt% of MS@GN in EVA composites showed enhanced thermal stability in terms of elevated decomposition temperature and enlarged storage modulus and thermal conductivity when compared with neat EVA. Especially, MS@GN has versatile advantages, such as thermally conductive network from the orderly intercalated graphene, high contacted area from the highly opened magnesium silicate, and desired dispersibility of MS@GN in the polymer matrices. Therefore, the MS@GN showed great potential for boosting the high temperature adaptation of EVA.