Abstract
Polymethylmethacrylate–graphene (PMMA/RGO) nanocomposites were prepared via in situ bulk polymerization using two different preparation techniques. In the first approach, a mixture of graphite oxide (GO) and methylmethacrylate monomers (MMA) were polymerized using a bulk polymerization method with a free radical initiator. After the addition of the reducing agent hydrazine hydrate (HH), the product was reduced via microwave irradiation (MWI) to obtain R-(GO-PMMA) composites. In the second approach, a mixture of graphite sheets (RGO) and MMA monomers were polymerized using a bulk polymerization method with a free radical initiator to obtain RGO-(PMMA) composites. The composites were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR and Raman spectroscopy and XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA and DSC. The results indicate that the composite obtained using the first approach, which involved MWI, had a better morphology and dispersion with enhanced thermal stability compared with the composites prepared without MWI.
Highlights
Graphene (GR) is the thinnest two-dimensional graphitic carbon material known, being one atom in thickness [1,2,3]
FTIR features of graphite oxide (GO) (Figure 1a) include the presence of different types of oxygen functionalities, which have been confirmed by the band at 3420 cm−1, which corresponds to the O-H group, the bands at 1720 and 1618 cm−1, which correspond to the C=O carbonyl/carboxyl and C=C aromatic groups, respectively, and the band at 1220 cm−1, which corresponds with the C-O in the epoxide group [30,34]
When microwave irradiation (MWI) was employed in the preparation of R-(GO-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)) nanocomposites (Figure 1e), there was an increase in the intensity of the C=C bands and a decrease in the intensity of the C=O bands
Summary
Graphene (GR) is the thinnest two-dimensional graphitic carbon (sp2-bonded carbon sheet) material known, being one atom in thickness [1,2,3]. This affinity makes GO an important intermediate in the preparation of RGO polymer composites via chemical reduction [21] In this approach, oxygen functional groups, such as carboxyl, carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, were introduced into the carbon skeleton of the GO [25,26], enabling it to interact with polymers through those oxygenated functionalities [27,28,29,30,31]. A mixture of RGO, which was produced via MWI and MMA monomers were polymerized using a bulk polymerization method using a free radical initiator to obtain RGO-(PMMA) composites. The results indicate that the composite obtained using the first approach, which involved MWI, had a better morphology and dispersion with enhanced thermal stability compared with the composites prepared without MWI
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