Enhanced thermo-optical performance and high BET surface area of graphene@PVC nanocomposite fibers prepared by simple facile deposition technique: N2 adsorption study

GN@PVC nanocomposite fiber was synthesized by simple facile deposition technique using THF as a solvent. The as-prepared GN@PVC nanocomposite fibers were characterized by BET, Raman, XPS, XRD, TEM, TGA, DRS and SEM. BET analysis of GN@PVC showed 70% enhancement in the surface area over PVC fibers. The thermal stability of GN@PVC nanocomposite fibers was found to be highly dependent on the weight percent of GN and nanocomposite with 3 wt.% GN showed 8% increase in glass transition temperature and 36% improvement in the activation energy for thermal degradation. Moreover, GN@PVC nanocomposite fibers showed lower band gap in comparison to PVC. (C) 2014 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.