Preparation and Properties of Cyano-Functionalized Graphitic Nanoplatelets for High-Performance Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Resin

Cyano-functionalized graphitic nanoplatelets (CyGNs) are synthesized by means of a mechanochemical reaction between graphite and acrylonitrile. The resulting CyGNs exhibit excellent mechanical properties and are highly dispersible in various solvents (i.e., THF). Due to their chemical compatibility (specifically, cyano functional groups), the CyGNs serve effectively as a reinforcing filler for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin. Consequently, compared to pure ABS, CyGN&ABS-X demonstrates improved mechanical properties and better thermal stability. Notably, the CyGN&ABS-1 specimen exhibits significant enhancements in the tensile strength (26 ± 1 MPa), Young's modulus (992 ± 71 MPa), and tensile toughness (22 ± 3 MPa), representing increases of approximately 130.6%, 19.2%, and 59.6%, respectively, over pure ABS. This underscores the ability of a mechanochemical reaction to directly modify the functional groups of graphitic nanoplatelets (GnPs) as fillers, facilitating their strong compatibility with a variety of polymers, including copolymers.