Preparation of functionalized graphene/SEBS-g-MAH nanocomposites and improvement of its electrical, mechanical properties

•Graphene/SEBS-g-MAH nanocomposites were prepared by solution mixing.•Good interfacial interaction was obtained by the “grafting to” method in the nanocomposite.•Enhanced electrical, mechanical properties were observed for the nanocomposite.

Graphene was first surface modified with octadecylamine to prevent the aggregation of graphene itself and also improve the compatibility between the graphene and polymer matrix. Then it was solution mixed with SEBS grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS-g-MAH) to prepare graphene/SEBS-g-MAH nanocomposites. FTIR results show that esterification reaction took place by a “grafting to” method between maleic anhydride group of SEBS-g-MAH and the residual hydroxyl of graphene. Rheological data indicated that storage modulus increased sharply with 0.5 wt% addition content of graphene, due to forming the network of graphene in SEBS-g-MAH. The tensile strength was enhanced by 69%, ranging from 1.94 to 3.28 MPa. The alternating current conductivity at 1 Hz of nanocomposites increased from 2.5 ×10−16 to 1.2×10−11 S/cm, compared with that of SEBS-g-MAH. The above results were attributed to the good dispersion of graphene in SEBS-g-MAH matrix and interfacial chemical interaction between graphene and SEBS-g-MAH.