Fabrication and characteristics of graphene oxide/nanocellulose fiber/poly(vinyl alcohol) film

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), PVA/nanocellulose fiber (CNF), and PVA/CNF/graphene oxide (GO) films were prepared simply by casting stable aqueous mixed solutions. FTIR investigation indicated that hydrogen bonding existed between the interface of GO and PVA-CNF. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis showed that GO was uniformly dispersed in PVA-CNF matrix. Introducing CNF into PVA caused a significant improvement in tensile strength, and further incorporating GO into PVA/CNF matrix led to a further increase. The tensile strength of the neat PVA film, PVA/CNF composite, and PVA/CNF/GO film (0.6 wt % GO) was 43, 69, and 80 MPa, respectively. Moreover, when incorporating 8 wt % CNF into PVA matrix, O-2 permeability and water absorption decreased from 13.36 to 11.66 cm(3)/m(2)/day and from 164.2% to 98.8%, respectively. Further adding 0.6 wt % GO into PVA/CNF matrix resulted in a further decrease of permeability and water absorption to 3.19 cm(3)/m(2)/day and 91.2%, respectively. Furthermore, for all composite samples, the transmittance of visible light was higher than 67% at 800 nm. CNF and GO-reinforced PVA with high mechanical and barrier properties are potential candidates for packaging industry. (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45345.