Exploration of polythiophene/graphene, poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene and polythiophene-co- poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene nanocomposite obtained via in-situ technique

Abstract

We have reported a simple method for synthesizing polythiophene/graphene, poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene and polythiophene- co-poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene nanocomposite via a solution method. The polythiophene was prepared by in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization using ferric chloride hexahydrate. Besides, simple in-situ conversion of graphite to graphene was attained in aprotic solvent via sonication. The physio-chemical nanocomposite properties were studied to analyze structural, morphological, thermal and electrical properties. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis corroborated the structures of polythiophene/graphene and poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene/graphene. Morphological analysis revealed good dispersion of graphene sheets in copolymer matrix having unique granular dispersion of polythiophene over the filler surface when compared with the microstructures of polythiophene/graphene and poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene. The X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the polythiophene and poly(methyl methacrylate)/graphene amorphous structure, as well as graphitic structure in the nanocomposite. The thermal conductivity was found to increase for the copolymer series and was higher for poly(methyl methacrylate) -co-polythiophene/graphene 1.5 with 1.5 wt% loading (1.22 W/mK). Similarly, with the in-situ graphene loading the electrical conductivity was enhanced up to 2.4 × 10−3 S/cm (poly(methyl methacrylate) -co-polythiophene/graphene 1.5).