Morphology and physical properties of graphene nanoplatelet embedded poly(vinyl alcohol) composite aerogel

Three dimensional carbon nanomaterial reinforced composite aerogel was fabricated using a freeze-drying method. Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were used as the reinforcement and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) as the organic binding material to produce the composite aerogel. Two different methods were employed to control the internal structure of the aerogel: a variation of solvent composition and the formation of cross-linking. The internal structure of the aerogel was affected by the types and composition of the solvent. In addition, the subsequent cross-linking of the aerogel influenced the morphology and physical properties. It is expected that this study can provide a simple and efficient way to control the internal structure and resulting properties of the GNP aerogel.