2010/11/03 by Sriya Das, Ahmed S. Wajid, Das, Sriya +7
Materials Science · Engineering · #Graphene research and applications #Carbon Nanotubes in Composites #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1011.1008
We demonstrate a novel in situ polymerization technique to develop localized\npolymer coatings on the surface of dispersed pristine graphene sheets. Graphene\nsheets show great promise as strong, conductive fillers in polymer\nnanocomposites; however, difficulties in dispersion quality and interfacial\nstrength between filler and matrix have been a persistent problem for\ngraphene-based nanocomposites, particularly for pristine graphene. To address\nthis problem, a physisorbed polymer layer is used to stabilize graphene sheets\nin solution. To form this protective layer, an organic microenvironment is\nformed around dispersed graphene sheets in surfactant solutions, and a nylon\n6,10 or nylon 6,6 coating is created via interfacial polymerization. A similar\ntechnique was originally developed to protect luminescent properties of carbon\nnanotubes in solution. These coated graphene dispersions are\naggregation-resistant and may be reversibly redispersed in water even after\nfreeze-drying. The coated graphene holds promise for a number of applications,\nincluding multifunctional graphene-polymer nanocomposites.\n