Polyimide reinforced with hybrid graphene oxide @ carbon nanotube: Toward high strength, toughness, electrical conductivity

The poor dispersion of graphene-based materials and the weak interfacial interaction between the nanofillers and polymer matrix greatly limit the reinforcing efficiency of graphene-based nanofillers on polymers. Moreover, the polymers reinforced with graphene usually tend to be brittle. In this paper, hybrid GO/CNT nanostructure was designed and cross-linked through amide bond, which can disperse and embed into the PI matrix commendably, providing strong interfacial interaction between the nanofillers and the PI matrix. Compared with neat PI, the amide bond hybrid GO/CNT (1.1 wt % in total) can endow the PI matrix with a dramatic increment on strength (118%), modulus (94%), fracture toughness (138%) and electrical conductivity (11 orders), due to the effective stress transfer at the interface between PI matrix and nanofillers as well as at the interface between GO and CNT. Furthermore, the over-all performance of the nanocomposites containing chemical amide bond hybrid GO/CNT is superior to those containing hydrogen bond hybrid GO/CNT and π-π stack hybrid GO/CNT, providing us with a framework to study the interfacial interactions (covalent bond, hydrogen bond and π-π stack) in hybrid GO/CNT nanomaterials and their influence on the performance of polymer nanocomposites.

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