Fast phase transfer of graphene oxide from water to triglycidyl para-aminophenol for epoxy composites with superior nanosheet dispersion

Currently the incorporation of graphene within polymer matrices requires complicated, energy-intensive, and time-consuming sample preparation steps. We report that the self-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) with triglycidyl para-aminophenol (TGPAP), a liquid tertiary amine-type epoxy oligomer, results in the direct and fast phase transfer of GO from water to TGPAP via simple manual stirring under ambient conditions for a very short time. The formation of TGPAP/GO complexes by the partial charge transfer from the carboxylic acid groups of GO to the tertiary amine group of TGPAP was found to be responsible for the fast phase transfer. After the in-situ thermal reduction and curing process, few-layer nanosheets of the reduced GO (rGO) disperse very uniformly in the final epoxy/rGO composites. The mechanical properties of the epoxy/rGO composites and the multiscale reinforced composites with continuous microscale carbon fiber and rGO as the primary and secondary reinforcements, respectively, are remarkably enhanced. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.