Preparation and characterisation of covalent polymer functionalized graphene oxide

A covalently bonded polyethylene grafted graphene oxide hybrid material was fabricated successfully. Gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was firstly coated onto the graphene oxide sheets, and then maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MA-g-PE) was grafted onto the APTES coated graphene oxide sheets, which were confirmed by means of Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. Functionalization resulted in 96 wt% polymer grafting efficiency, and a 10 degrees C increase in the crystallisation temperature, compared with that of the pure MA-g-PE. An encapsulating structure of the functionalised graphene oxide sheets was observed by means of TEM. For the potential application of the functionalised graphene oxide, PE/functionalised graphene oxide nanocomposites as an example was assessed in this paper. Initial results showed that Young's modulus, yielding strength and tensile strength of PE can be improved by incorporation of the PE-graft-graphene oxide at very low loadings. This protocol could broad the potential application of graphene in the development of non-polar polymer/graphene nanocomposites.