Abstract
The compatibility of graphene oxide with its dispersion medium (polymer) plays a critical role in the formation of nanocomposite materials with significant property improvements. Environmentally friendly miniemulsion polymerization, which allows a formation of nanoencapsulation in an aqueous phase and high molecular weight polymer/composite production is one promising method. In this study, we screened a series of amphiphilic modifiers and found that the quaternary ammonium (ar-vinyl benzyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (VBTAC) pending carbon double bonds could effectively modify the graphene oxide (GO) to be compatible with the organophilic monomer. After that, free radical miniemulsion polymerization successfully synthesized stable latex of exfoliated poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/ GO nanocomposite. The final latex had an extended storage life and a relatively uniform particle size distribution. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of this latex and its films indicated successful encapsulation of exfoliated nano-dimensional graphene oxide inside a polymer matrix.
Highlights
Nanocomposites consisting of polymer and inorganic particles with a sub-micron scale, such as carbon black, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nanoclay, have been extensively studied in the last decades because these materials possess superior mechanical, thermal, electric, or gas barrier properties [1,2,3,4]
graphene oxide (GO) is in a layered structure and its oxidative functionalities are located in the basal plane of the graphene sheet causing hydrophilicity, which results in exfoliation to the nanoscale platelet and dispersion in the aqueous phase [19]
Monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA), 99%, was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Inc., and the inhibitor was removed by passing through a glass column filled with aluminum oxide powder. (Vinyl benzyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (VBTAC, 99%), 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulphonic acid (AMPS), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS, technical grade), Triton 405 (TX-405, 70% solution in water,), hexadecane (HD, 99%), 2,2 -Azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN, 98%), and 4-methoxyphenol (99%,), were all purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Inc. and used as received
Summary
Nanocomposites consisting of polymer and inorganic particles with a sub-micron scale, such as carbon black, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nanoclay, have been extensively studied in the last decades because these materials possess superior mechanical, thermal, electric, or gas barrier properties [1,2,3,4]. Among these inorganic materials, graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have attracted interest since they can prepare various functional nanocomposites for different applications in the energy and environmental areas [5,6,7,8,9]. These methods including solution blending, bulk polymerization, and melt-intercalation [21,22,23] require the use of toxic organic solvents, high temperature, or produce the non-uniform distribution of the GO sheet in the polymer matrix
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