Effect of chemical modification of graphene on mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of polyimide/graphene nanocomposites

Chemically modified graphene sheets were dispersed in a high-performance polyimide (PI) matrix using polyamic acid (PAA)/graphene nanocomposite as a precursor. PI nanocomposite films with different loadings of graphene sheets were prepared by thermal imidization of the as-prepared PAA/graphene nanocomposites. Graphene oxide (GO) synthesized by Hummer's method was chemically reduced with various reducing agents to produce reduced GOs (rGOs). The incorporation of only 5 wt % GO resulted in an ∼12-fold and ∼18-fold increase in the tensile strength and tensile modulus of PI, respectively, while the PI/rGO nanocomposites were found to have relatively inferior tensile properties. The superior mechanical properties of the PI/GO nanocomposites were attributed to the good dispersion and effective stress transfer between the polymer and GO sheets, as evidenced by the results from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and morphological studies. Furthermore, the PI/GO nanocomposites exhibited higher loading capacity than PI/rGO. The thermo-oxidative stability of PI was also remarkably improved with the addition of both GO and rGOs, but rGOs had a more pronounced effect. The electrical conductivity of PI/rGO nanocomposites was higher than that of PI/GO, suggesting restoration of the graphene basal plane upon the reduction of GO. The highest electrical conductivity was achieved for the l-ascorbic acid reduced GO-reinforced PI nanocomposites.