title: Reduced graphene oxide composites with water soluble copolymers having tailored lower critical solution temperatures and unique tube-like structure.
abstract: Nanohybrids of graphene with water soluble polymer were synthesized using 'grafting from' method. GO, prepared by modified Hummers' method, was first reacted with sodium azide. Alkyne-terminated RAFT-CTA was synthesized by reaction of propargyl alcohol and S-1-dodecyl-S'-(α,α'-dimethyl-α"-acetic acid) trithiocarbonate. RAFT-CTA was grafted onto the GO sheets by facile click-reaction and subsequently, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and N-ethyleacrylamide (NEAM) were polymerized on graphene sheets via RAFT polymerization method. The respective copolymers with different ratios were also prepared. The nanohybrids were characterized by FTIR, XRD, TGA, Raman, SEM, and AFM. Both SEM and AFM clearly showed rod-like structures for rGO-PNEAM. XRD showed a small peak at 2θ = 19.21°, corresponding to d-spacing ≈ 4.6 Å. In addition, the nanohybrids showed a very broad temperature range for the LCST in water between ca. 30 and 70 °C.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.|Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and System of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namvari
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.|Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and System of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chandra S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.|Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and System of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galluzzi
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Nanshan District Key Lab for Biopolymers and Safety Evaluation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.
authors.forename: Florian J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Stadler