title: Poly(vinyl alcohol) reinforced and toughened with poly(dopamine)-treated graphene oxide, and its use for humidity sensing.
abstract: Poly(dopamine)-treated graphene oxide/poly(vinyl alcohol) ("dG-O/PVA") composite films were made and characterized. G-O was modified with poly(dopamine) in aqueous solution and then chemically reduced to yield poly(dopamine)-treated reduced G-O. A combination of hydrogen bonding, strong adhesion of poly(dopamine) at the interface of PVA and G-O sheets, and reinforcement by G-O resulted in increases in tensile modulus, ultimate tensile strength, and strain-to-failure by 39, 100, and 89%, respectively, at 0.5 wt % dG-O loading of the PVA. The dG-O serves as a moisture barrier for water-soluble PVA, and the dG-O/PVA composite films were shown to be effective humidity sensors over the relative humidity range 40-100%.
authors.affiliation: Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, ‡School of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, §School of Natural Science, and ⊥Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials, Institute of Basic Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology , UNIST-gil 50, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 689-798 Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Dongwoo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Rodney S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ruoff
authors.forename: Hyeon Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Young-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Park