Processing and properties of electrically conductive nanocomposites based on polyamide-12 filled with exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets prepared by selective laser sintering

Electrically conductive polymer nanocomposites were prepared through selective laser sintering (SLS) of polyamide-12 (PA) powder coated with graphite nanoplatelets (GNP) using sonication. The SLS process parameters were optimized in order to maximize the tensile modulus at 3 and 5 wt% GNP. The highest tensile modulus (2.1 GPa) was achieved at 3 wt%. A slight decrease in flexural modulus and strength was observed at 3 and 5 wt% GNP compared with the neat polymer. Morphological observation of the graphitecoated PA powder showed fairly homogeneous dispersion. The SLS processed parts were nearly fully dense and the highest density (99.5%) was found at 3 wt% GNP. The bulk electrical conductivity of the SLS-processed nanocomposites was found to be 3.8×10 −11 and 6.4×10 −8 S/cm for 3 and 5 wt% GNP respectively.