Graphene oxide-integrated high-temperature durable fluoroelastomer for petroleum oil sealing

Two-dimensional one-atom thick graphene inspires intensive studies due to its great potentials in enhancing polymer’s mechanical, gas/liquid barrier, and thermal properties. However, its poor dispersion within highly viscous rubber elastomers by conventional mill mixing posed significant technical challenges and hindered its vast applications. In this paper, graphene oxide (GO) enhanced fluoroelastomer (FKM) was solution-processed to enhance the mechanical and liquid barrier properties of FKM for the first time. Due to the chemical bonding, the GO/FKM performed 1.5-fold increment tensile strength compared with pure FKM and 1.2-fold increment tensile strength compared with Reduced Graphene Oxide/FKM at 150 °C. The reduced permeability of GO/FKM to organic solvent (such as methyl ethyl ketone) indicated the improved liquid barrier properties. This research provides a cost-effective solution process to efficiently enhance the thermal mechanical and liquid barrier properties of FKM with the addition of GO sheets through excellent dispersion techniques and strong GO-matrix bonding.