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 pi-pi stacking with water evaporating.