Graphene oxide nanoplatform surface decoration by spherical zinc-polypyrrole nanoparticles for epoxy coating properties enhancement: Detailed explorations from integrated experimental and electronic-scale quantum mechanics approaches

Abstract

In this paper, the potential application of polypyrrole (PPy) and zinc doped polypyrrole-based nanoparticles functionalized graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets for the achievement of a high-performance epoxy composite coating with improved thermal and mechanical properties were examined. Through an in-situ polymerization method, the conductive polypyrrole nanoparticles were synthesized on the GO sheets. The X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Field emission scanning electron microscopy were performed to characterize the filler’s chemical structure and morphological perspective. The thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy composite reinforced with 0.15 wt % nanofiller were discovered by thermal gravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and tensile test. Results obtained evidence that the inclusion of GO-PPy and zinc doped GO-PPy into the polymer composite resulted in the GO/Epoxy interfacial bonding enhancement. For the EP/GO-PPy nanocomposite the enhancement degrees of about 54% for elongation at break and 115% for the energy at break are obtained, while the enhancements of 21% and 32.44% of tensile strength and energy at break are concluded for the zinc doped GO-PPy in the epoxy coating, respectively. Additionally, the results derived from QM computations reflected the hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions of PPy with both epoxy resin and GO.