The tribological behaviors of polyacrylate/graphene oxide and polyacrylate/surfactant-modified reduced graphene oxide composite coatings on flexible leather substrates

An anionic surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), was used to modify reduced graphene oxide by in-situ reduction process to enhance its compatibility in polyacrylate latex. Polyacrylate/graphene oxide (PA/GO) and polyacrylate/surfactant-modified reduced graphene oxide (PA/LAS-rGO) were prepared to investigate their tribological behaviors on flexible leather substrates. The structure and morphologies of GO and LAS-rGO were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and TEM. The tribological behaviors of polyacrylate composite coatings were studied by mechanical properties, wear loss of coated leather and ESEM. The results of XRD, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy confirmed that LAS-rGO was modified by LAS and had good dispersity in water. SEM and TEM images implied the layered structure of GO and LAS-rGO. The mechanical and tribological properties of polyacrylate/LAS-rGO are better than that of polyacrylate/GO. The analysis of ESEM show that LAS-rGO can form self-lubrication and barrier layer owing to its amphiphilicity and π-π stacking with water evaporating.