Preparation of and research on bioinspired graphene oxide/nanocellulose/polydopamine ternary artificial nacre

Abstract

Inspired by the hierarchical micro/nanoscale structure and interfacial interactions of natural nacre, a variety of bioinspired layered materials were designed and prepared. However, the mechanical properties of the material were low according to the single interface interaction. In this study, we demonstrated strong and tough ternary bioinspired artificial nacre through synergistic toughening of graphene oxide (GO) and nanocellulose (CNF). Furthermore, the composites also realized a combination of multiple interfacial crosslinking strategies, including hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding and covalent bonding, which greatly improved the mechanical properties of the materials. The tensile strengths and toughnesses of the ternary bioinspired composites reached 528 MPa and 7.3 MJ/m3, which were 3.9 and 4.1 times that of natural nacre, respectively. In addition to their excellent tensile strengths and toughnesses, the composites also had good electrical properties with a conductivity of 56.2 S cm−1. This bioinspired ternary artificial nacre, with excellent mechanical and electrical properties, has potential applications in aerospace engineering, flexible electrodes, artificial muscles and tissue engineering.