A solvent-free graphene oxide nanoribbon colloid as filler phase for epoxy-matrix composites with enhanced mechanical, thermal and tribological performance

Abstract A solvent-free graphene oxide nanoribbons colloids (GONRs-M2070) was achieved and evaluated by grafting organosilanes (KH560) and polyether amine (M2070). Epoxy composites were then prepared with the GONRs-M2070 colloids based on the in-situ blending method to investigate its effect on the mechanical, thermal and tribological properties of the resulting composites, as well as the distribution of GONRs-M2070 in the host materials. The results suggested that the GONRs-M2070, which could disperse and exfoliate well in the epoxy resin, had been successfully synthesized based on the graphene oxide nanoribbons. In addition, it was found that the addition of 0.6 wt% GONRs-M2070 can simultaneously enhanced mechanical, thermal and tribological performance of the resulting epoxy composites. For example, compared with neat epoxy resin, the 0.6 wt% GONRs-M2070 improved the flexural strength, impact strength and glass transition temperature by 16.2%, 83.9% and 32.5%, respectively. Moreover, a lower friction coefficient (0.19) and wear rate (7.65 × 10 −5  g min −1 ) were also observed at 0.6 wt% GONRs-M2070. The obtained results along with the solvent-free nature indicated that combining epoxy resin with GONRs-M2070 specially provided a green and efficient route to improve the wear resistance and decrease the friction coefficient of resin-based composites.