UV-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites

摘要

Polymer nanocomposite coatings are attracting great attention in recent decades due to the possibility of adding valuable properties to the matrix. This multifunctionality is essential since polymer coatings should not only meet decorative or protective functions, they should also provide other requirements like electrostatic discharge, high mechanical performance, large operating temperature range and chemical resistance among others [1]. One approach to reach these features is the addition of nanofillers with remarkable mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. In the last few years the panorama of carbon-based polymer composites has been mainly dominated by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) due to the development of various functionalization techniques and polymer-grafting procedures that allowed the efficient dispersion of CNTs bundles in polymer matrices [1-4]. In order to find convenient solutions to the high costs and technical difficulties associated to the use of CNTs, the scientific interest recently moved towards different forms of graphitic carbon as fillers to prepare polymer composites, and graphene has rapidly become the most intensively investigated allotropic form of carbon due to its extraordinary electronic transport properties [5], associated with exceptional thermo-mechanical features [6-8], which can be successfully conveyed in polymer composites [9]. The major drawback to the use of graphene as functional filler for high performance composites is the achievement of exfoliation into the polymeric matrix. This issue has been addressed by developing strategies involving the reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide (GO) to achieve reduced graphene oxide layers (rGO), which are easily processable in both aqueous and organic media as single layer sheets.