Preparation of nano-SiO2 modified graphene oxide and its application in polyacrylate emulsion

Abstract Graphene oxide-silica nanohybrids (GO-SiO2) were prepared using graphene oxide (GO) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) via the sol-gel method. It was further employed to modify polyacrylate (PA) via in situ polymerization to fabricate PA/GO-SiO2 composite. The structure and properties of GO-SiO2 and PA/GO-SiO2 composite were systematically investigated. FT-IR, TG, SEM and TEM analyses indicated that GO-SiO2 nanohybrids were successfully prepared and the SiO2 particles covered the surface of GO sheets. After being modified by GO-SiO2, the main structural feature of PA still remained, and the dispersion of PA emulsion was slightly improved. DSC measurement suggested that the introduction of GO-SiO2 would slightly decrease the tensile strength of PA/GO-SiO2 composite film while improved its elongation at break, but it had no significant effect on the monomer conversion of the PA emulsion. Moreover, the thermal stability and water-resistance of the composite film could be reasonably improved. This suggests the application potential of GO-SiO2 nanohybrids in the modification of PA emulsion for leather finishing.