ORIGINAL PAPER Influence of exfoliated graphite inclusion on the thermal, mechanical, dielectric and solvent transport characteristics of fluoroelastomer nanocomposites Grace Moni 1,2 & Thomasukutty Jose 1 & Sreelakshmi Rajeevan 1 & Anshidha Mayeen 3 & Alphy Rejimon 1 & P. S. Sarath 1 & Soney C. George 1,2 Received: 25 May 2019 / Accepted: 13 February 2020 # The Polymer Society, Taipei 2020 Abstract Nanocomposites with multifunctional properties are of great interest as they meet the needs of the developing industrial and engineering fields. The present study focus on the development of multifunctional elastomeric nanocomposites with exfoliated graphite (EG) as the reinforcing content and the speciality material fluoroelastomer as the polymer matrix. Morphological analysis of the nanocomposites in terms of TEM, AFM and SEM were done to look at the polymer-filler interactions which in turn lead to the property enhancement. The dispersion of the EG in the nanoscale which resulted in the property enhancement is clear from the TEM images. Nanocomposites exhibited improved thermal stability and higher mechanical strength by the addition of 12 phr of EG nanofiller. Moreover the dielectric performance of the nanocomposites was also enhanced by the addition of conductive EG nanofiller and the nanocomposites showed higher dielectric constant value and AC conductivity with lower dielectric loss. In addition to this the solvent transport features of the nanocomposites were also analyzed to reveal the reinforcement effect of the nanofiller and the effective polymer-filler interactions. Keywords Fluoroelastomer . Exfoliated graphite . Multifunctional properties . Transport characteristics Introduction The multifunctional aspects of elastomeric nanocomposites enabled them to be an unavoidable competent counterpart in industrial and engineering fields. In this aspect nanocompos- ites derived from graphene seeks greater attention because of its outstanding properties in the nanoscale. Graphene and its derivatives have transformed the area of research with valu- able outcomes that are highly beneficial to the modern era [1]. The 3D graphitic structure consists of stacks of 2D graphene sheets with sp 2 hybridised carbon atoms bonded together in a hexagonal crystal lattice. Graphite in its bulk state exists as a layered material, in order to incorporate them in the elastomeric material, proper dispersion throughout the matrix is inevitable and for that the layers must be separated. Hence in this aspect the utilization of EG as a filler material is of considerable interest [2, 3]. Limited research reports are available in the case of EG incorporated elastomeric nano- composites. Malas et al. studied the effect of EG with and without carbon black in natural rubber and butyl rubber nano- composites [4, 5]. The nanocomposites showed overall im- provement in thermal, mechanical, dynamic mechanical and electrical properties compared to the gum sample. SBR/EG nanocomposites with improved mechanical and fatigue prop- erties were developed by Song and co-workers [6]. Likewise EG incorporated nanocomposites were studied on different matrices and improvement in thermal, mechanical, tribologi- cal, and conductivity and transport properties were achieved [7–12]. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-020-2040-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Soney C. George soneygeo@gmail.com 1 Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, Department of Basic Sciences, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India 2 School of Chemical Sciences, M G University, Kottayam, Kerala, India 3 School of Pure and Applied Physics, M.G University, Kottayam, Kerala, India Journal of Polymer Research (2020) 27:72 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-020-2040-x