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Flexible polystyrene/graphene composites with epsilon-near-zero properties

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Abstract

Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials are promising candidates in the fields of sensing technologies, solar energy harvesting, and electromagnetic absorbers, and most research on ENZ materials is focused at visible, infrared, and terahertz wavelengths. However, the report about ENZ materials at radio frequency is rare. In this work, flexible polystyrene/graphene (PS/GR) metacomposites exhibiting ENZ properties at radio-frequency region were fabricated by solution mixing assisted with non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) strategy and the hot press method. The NIPS strategy greatly improved the dispersion and distribution of GR nanosheets in PS matrix, allowing GR nanosheets to disperse in PS solution without delamination within 72 h. The microstructure, crystalline structure, chemical composition, mechanical properties, and electrical and dielectric properties were investigated. When GR content reached 30 wt%, the continuous conductive GR network was formed, and the epsilon-near-zero at around 920 kHz accompanied by the transition of permittivity from positive to negative was observed, ascribing to the resonance of the induced electric dipoles from GR nanosheets’ surfaces. The equivalent circuit analysis showed that the appearance of inductors was significant for the realization of ENZ and negative permittivity. The flexible PS/GR composites with ENZ properties at radio frequency show great potentials in the fields of wearable materials such as invisibility cloak, drug delivery, and soft robotics.

Graphical abstract

Graphene nanocomposites are designed by solution mixing assisted with non-solvent induced phase separation, and showed epsilon-near-zero properties (ε′ ~ 0) and excellent flexible properties.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support of Taif University Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/27), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia, financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52101176), Postdoctoral Applied Research Project of Qingdao, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2020M671992], Postdoctoral Innovation Project of Shandong Province [202003031], Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province [ZR2020QE006], and support from the State Key Laboratory of Bio-fibers and Eco-textiles.

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Author notes

  1. Zheng Zhang and Mingxiang Liu contributed equally for this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China

    Zheng Zhang, Mingxiang Liu, Yunxiao Jiang, Peitao Xie & Chunzhao Liu

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Zheng Zhang

  3. Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed M. Ibrahim & Gaber A. M. Mersal

  4. Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Haikun Wu, Yan Wu & Yang Li

  5. Metals Material Engineering Research Centre, Hong Kong Branch of National Precious, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Haikun Wu

  6. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Islam H. El Azab

  7. Department of Chemistry, Turabah University College, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Salah M. El-Bahy

  8. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China

    Mina Huang

  9. School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    Gemeng Liang

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  1. Zheng Zhang
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  2. Mingxiang Liu
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Contributions

Zheng Zhang and Mingxiang Liu contributed equally for this work, and are both considered the first author of this work. All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Z. Zhang, M. Liu, H. Wu, Y. Wu, Y. Li, and Y. Jiang. H. Wu and P. Xie wrote the manuscript. M. Ibrahim, G. Mersal, I. El-Azab, S. El-Bahy, C. Liu, G. Liang, and M. Huang gave the meaningful advice in the polish of the manuscript. P. Xie gave financial support for this work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Haikun Wu or Peitao Xie.

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Zhang, Z., Liu, M., Ibrahim, M.M. et al. Flexible polystyrene/graphene composites with epsilon-near-zero properties. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 5, 1054–1066 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-022-00486-3

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