title: Ecofriendly Fabrication of Modified Graphene Oxide Latex Nanocomposites with High Oxygen Barrier Performance.
abstract: Large-scale industrial applications of barrier films and coatings that prevent permeation of degradative gases and moisture call for the development of cost-efficient and ecofriendly polymer nanocomposites. Herein, we report the facile fabrication of latex nanocomposites (LNCs) by incorporating surface-modified graphene oxide (mGO) at various loadings (0.025-1.2 wt %) into a styrene-acrylic latex using water as the processing solvent. LNCs fabricated with mGO exhibited significant reductions (up to 67%) in water vapor sorption, resulting in greater environmental stability when compared to LNCs fabricated with equivalent loading of hydrophilic, unmodified GO. The assembly and coalescence of the exfoliated latex/mGO dispersions during the film formation process produced highly dispersed and well-ordered mGO domains with high aspect ratios, where alignment and overlap of the mGO domains improved with increasing mGO content. The addition of only 0.7 vol % (1.2 wt %) mGO led to an 84% decrease (relative to the neat polymer latex film) in oxygen permeability of the LNC films, an excellent barrier performance attributed to the observed LNC film morphologies. This work enables ecofriendly development of mechanically flexible mGO/LNC films with superior barrier properties for many industrial applications including protective coatings, food packaging, and biomedical products.
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Yidan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Sharathkumar K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mendon
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Guangjie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Jessica R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Biological Sciences, Sierra Lobo, Inc., Kennedy Space Center , Florida 32899, United States.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trigwell
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Sergei I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Nazarenko
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: Derek L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.affiliation: School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi , 118 College Drive #5217, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Rawlins
keywords: cross-sectional morphology; latex nanocomposites; modified graphene oxide; oxygen permeability; water vapor sorption