Synthesis and gas permeability of highly elastic poly(dimethylsiloxane)/graphene oxide composite elastomers using telechelic polymers

- Synthesized polymer/graphene oxide (GO) composites using telechelic polymers.
- Solid, mechanically robust elastomers by incorporating less than 1 vol % of GO.
- Elastomers showed ∼45% reduction in various gas permeabilities with 0.43 vol % of GO.
- These materials could find application as gas barrier or separation membranes.

This study illustrates that amine functional groups on the ends of telechelic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) can undergo post-processing reactions with surface epoxy groups on graphene oxide (GO) to form a robust elastomer during simple heating. In these materials, GO acts both as a nanofiller which reinforces the mechanical properties and participates as a multifunctional crosslinker, thereby promoting elastic properties. Experiments indicate that the telechelic PDMS/GO elastomer is highly crosslinked (e.g., more than 75 wt % is a non-dissolving crosslinked gel) but highly flexible such that it can be stretched up to 300% of its original length. Finally, the PDMS/GO elastomer was tested as a single gas barrier membrane and gas permeability was decreased ∼45% by incorporating 1 wt % (0.43 vol %) of GO, thereby highlighting its potential use in practical applications.

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