Enhanced mechanical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites with glucose-reduced graphene oxide

•The reduction of graphene oxide is realized with a green approach using glucose as a reducing agent.•The compatibility of the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with PVA is improved by the use of PVP.•The tensile properties of PVA are greatly improved with the PVP-stabilized RGO.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite films with enhanced mechanical properties were prepared by solution blending of glucose-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with aqueous solution of PVA. Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) was selected as the surfactant to improve the stability of the aqueous suspension of RGO. With 0.7 wt% of PVP-stabilized RGO (P-RGO), the tensile strength of PVA increases from 105 MPa to 154 MPa and the Young's modulus increases from 3.3 GPa to 4.9 GPa. These substantial improvements are attributed to the good dispersion of P-RGO nanosheets in PVA matrix and the strong hydrogen-bonding interaction between P-RGO nanosheets and PVA macromolecular chains. P-RGO nanosheets were confirmed to be randomly dispersed in PVA matrix based on the modified Halpin-Tsai model.