Mechanical reinforcement of graphene/poly(vinyl chloride) composites prepared by combining the in-situ suspension polymerization and melt-mixing methods

In order to obtain uniform dispersion of graphene and significant mechanical reinforcement of graphene filled poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites, we used in-situ suspension polymerization to obtain graphene/PVC compounded resins with uniform dispersion of graphene, and subsequently prepared graphene/PVC composites using conventional melt-mixing technique. The microstructure, graphene dispersion, mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were investigated in detail. We found that the combination of in-situ polymerization and melt-mixing was effective in obtaining graphene/PVC composites with uniform graphene dispersion and significant mechanical reinforcement. The tensile strength, impact toughness, and thermal stability of the nanocomposites were greatly improved even at an extremely low graphene loading (0.3 wt%), which is mainly attributed to the uniform dispersion of graphene and strong graphene-PVC interactions. By virtue of their excellent mechanical properties and easy production, the graphene/PVC composites have great potential to be used as high-performance composites in many fields.