Bioinspired Graphene Oxide/Polymer Nanocomposite Paper with High Strength, Toughness, and Dielectric Constant

Graphene/graphene oxide (GO)-based paper is attracting great interest owing to its multiple functionalities. In this study, we successfully synthesized a triblock copolymer by atom transfer radical polymerization method in terms of molecular design. The copolymer was comprised of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) segments. To the copolymer, the PDMS segments provided flexible characteristic, and the PGMA segments provided reactive groups and adhesiveness. Because of the above characteristics, the copolymer was used as an adhesive between the adjacent GO nanosheets for fabrication of GO/PDMS-PGMA papers. The papers showed a good combination of high tensile strength and toughness. The tensile strength and toughness of GO/PDMS-PGMA (85/15) paper reached as high as 309 MPa and 6.55 MJ.m(-3), which were 3.4 and 8.2 times higher than that of pure GO paper. Furthermore, the papers also had high dielectric constant, which may enable this kind of material to be used in electronic and engineering fields.