Abstract
Abstract Graphene materials have attracted enormous academics and industries in different fields, ranging from nanocomposites to medical applications, to explore due to its outstanding thermal, barrier and mechanical properties. In this work, the solution-casted polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film reinforced with functionalized sonication exfoliated graphene and its properties such as sub surface mechanical behavior i.e hardness and modulus were studied. The compatibility between graphene and PVA was enhanced by the functionalization of graphene with a gum arabic. The decoration of the graphene surface allowed better interfacial interactions with PVA. As been observed during morphological study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD), agglomeration of graphene sheets was detected at highest graphene loading (0.10 wt.%). Improvement of mechanical properties was observed by nanoindentation for sample with lowest graphene contents (0.05 wt%). The enhancement of modulus up to 130% was contributed by homogeneously distributed graphene in the matrix of PVA. However, the present of higher graphene content seem to reduce of the hardness properties of PVA/graphene nanocomposites.
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