title: Effect of chemical modification of graphene on mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of polyimide/graphene nanocomposites.
abstract: Chemically modified graphene sheets were dispersed in a high-performance polyimide (PI) matrix using polyamic acid (PAA)/graphene nanocomposite as a precursor. PI nanocomposite films with different loadings of graphene sheets were prepared by thermal imidization of the as-prepared PAA/graphene nanocomposites. Graphene oxide (GO) synthesized by Hummer's method was chemically reduced with various reducing agents to produce reduced GOs (rGOs). The incorporation of only 5 wt% GO resulted in an ~12-fold and ~18-fold increase in the tensile strength and tensile modulus of PI, respectively, while the PI/rGO nanocomposites were found to have relatively inferior tensile properties. The superior mechanical properties of the PI/GO nanocomposites were attributed to the good dispersion and effective stress transfer between the polymer and GO sheets, as evidenced by the results from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and morphological studies. Furthermore, the PI/GO nanocomposites exhibited higher loading capacity than PI/rGO. The thermo-oxidative stability of PI was also remarkably improved with the addition of both GO and rGOs, but rGOs had a more pronounced effect. The electrical conductivity of PI/rGO nanocomposites was higher than that of PI/GO, suggesting restoration of the graphene basal plane upon the reduction of GO. The highest electrical conductivity was achieved for the l-ascorbic acid reduced GO-reinforced PI nanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Kyungpook National University, #1370 Sankyuk-Dong, Buk-gu, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hun Wook
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Arup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.forename: Tahseen
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.forename: Dong-Hun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soo-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001555:Benzene Derivatives; D010087:Oxides; D011108:Polymers; C513053:polyamic acid; D006108:Graphite