Abstract
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is known to be electrically conductive and adsorb at oil-water interfaces. It has also been shown to mechanically reinforce bulk materials. This work combines these favourable characteristics of two-dimensional rGO to develop 3D macroporous polymer nanocomposites via emulsion templating. rGO proved to be an efficient emulsifier as only 0.2 mg/ml (with respect to the oil phase) of rGO was required to stabilise water-in-oil high internal phase emulsions (HIPE) of up to 80 vol.% internal phase. After polymerisation of the continuous minority monomer (styrene and divinylbenzene) phase, macroporous polymer nanocomposites with tuneable microstructures were obtained. The storage modulus of rGO-poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) HIPEs increased by almost an order of magnitude when the rGO concentration used to stabilise the HIPE template increased from 0.4 to 5.0 mg/ml. The adsorption and organisation of rGO at the o/w interface in HIPEs prior to polymerisation and partial aggregation in the polymer cell walls after polymerisation resulted in conductive nanocomposites with a rGO content of as low as 0.006 vol.% (with respect to bulk polymer volume or 0.8 mg/ml with respect to the monomer volume used in the emulsion template) compared to 0.1 vol.% for dense nanocomposites previously reported. This provided evidence for the efficient arrangement of rGO within the macroporous polymer nanocomposite, creating an electrically conductive network.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 395-402 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Polymer |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 14 2014 |
Keywords
- Chemically modified graphene
- Macroporous polymers
- Nanocomposites
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Organic Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Materials Chemistry