Synthesis and properties of iodo functionalized graphene oxide/polyimide nanocomposites

We report an effective method to fabricate the graphene-based high performance polyimide (PI) nano-composites via the in situ polymerization with iodo functionalized graphene oxide (I-Ph-GO). The electrical conductivity of the reduced iodo functionalized graphene oxide (R-I-Ph-GO)/PI (1/99 w/w) nanocomposites was 5.2 x 10(-2) S/m, which is about 107 times higher than that of the reduced graphene oxide (R-GO)/PI (1/99 w/w) nanocomposites. The tensile modulus of R-I-Ph-GO/PI (0.5/99.5 w/w) nanocomposites was increased from 2.5 GPa to 6.8 GPa, and the tensile strength was increased from 75 MPa to 123 MPa, which were approximately 170% and 64% enhancement compared to those of pure PI, respectively. In addition, the water transmission rate of an I-Ph-GO/PI (0.2/99.8 w/w) nanocomposites film was lower than that of R-GO/PI nanocomposites and was reduced by about 67% compared to that of pure PI. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.