Issue 40, 2019

Solvothermal synthesis of graphene oxide and its composites with poly(ε-caprolactone)

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by a solvothermal synthesis method using sodium and ethanol. A sequence of pyrolysis, washing and purification steps was developed for the total removal of all by-products. The first pyrolysis step is essential to obtain graphitic forms of carbon while a washing and a second pyrolysis step further improved the graphenic structures obtained via the reduction of OH/COOH and C–O groups and the attendant increase in C[double bond, length as m-dash]C bonding (sp2 hybridization). Two purification processes were employed to remove sodium carbonate (by-product), i.e. vacuum filtration and centrifugation, but the latter produced a more stable GO product, typically with a few-layer (ca. 3 nm) stack and relatively long platelets (up to ca. 1.3 μm). The functionality of this GO was demonstrated by preparing composites of it with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). Some of the GO was arranged in flower-like domains dispersed in the PCL matrix. The crystalline content of PCL decreased on addition of GO, though the dynamic modulus of PCL increased and an electrical percolation at 0.5 vol% GO was obtained, manifest by a ∼104 increase in electrical conductivity (in an overall increase of ∼105 achieved at >1 vol%), more than sufficient for anti-static applications.

Graphical abstract: Solvothermal synthesis of graphene oxide and its composites with poly(ε-caprolactone)

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 May 2019
Accepted
19 Sep 2019
First published
20 Sep 2019

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 18672-18682

Solvothermal synthesis of graphene oxide and its composites with poly(ε-caprolactone)

S. J. Chin, M. Doherty, S. Vempati, P. Dawson, C. Byrne, B. J. Meenan, V. Guerra and T. McNally, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 18672 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR04202D

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