Graphene/thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites: Surface modification of graphene through oxidation, polyvinyl pyrrolidone coating and reduction

Abstract Herein, oxidation, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) coating and reduction are used to modify the surface of graphene in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/graphene nanocomposites. It is demonstrated that graphene could be easily dispersed in TPU with PVP absorbed on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as stabilizer during reduction. In the stress–strain curves for these composites containing GO, PVP coated GO (GO/PVP) and reduced GO/PVP (RGO/PVP) as filler, PVP coating and reduction can largely enhance the stress in low modulus region. It is thought to largely related with enhanced interfacial interaction between filler and matrix and healing of graphene structure during reduction. Consequently, the modulus of TPU/GO/PVP and TPU/RGO/PVP is significantly increased. Meanwhile, an electrical percolation threshold of 0.35 wt.% is obtained for TPU/RGO/PVP. Comparing with the results in literature, the filler surface modification used in this study has created nanocomposites with a good balance between electrical conductivity and mechanical properties.