Amphiphilic poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) grafted graphene by reversible addition and fragmentation polymerization and the reinforcement of poly(vinyl acetate) films

The reversible addition and fragmentation (RAFT) polymerization of vinyl pyrrolidone (VP) from graphene oxide (GO) is used to produce GO-g-PVP (GP) and the grafting is confirmed from Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The average thickness of GP (8.2 nm) obtained from atomic force microscopy is higher than that of GO (1.2 nm), indicating the wrapping of grafted PVP on the GO sheets. Transmission electron microscopy of GP exhibits swollen domains (white spots) characterizing the grafted PVP chains from the GO surface. The dispersibility of the GP sheets becomes greatly improved over that of GO and they are dispersible in the solvents of Hansen solubility parameter (δp + δH) range 6.3–58. Three nanocomposites GP1, GP3 and GP5, produced by mixing with 1, 3 and 5 (w/w)% GP with poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), produce a stable dispersion in dimethyl formamide, although mixtures of GO and PVAc do not. The field emission scanning electron microscopy of the GP5 sample indicates a good homogeneous dispersion of GP sheets within the PVAc matrix, although both GO and PVP are individually immiscible with PVAc. The FTIR data indicates a specific interaction between GP and PVAc. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the pure PVAc increases in the GP composites, but in the GO composite it remains unchanged. In the GPP5 hybrid containing the GO, PVP and PVAc mixture produced at the same composition as in GP5, an increase of Tg is seen to a lesser degree than that of GP, indicating that GO acts as a compatibilizer of a PVP and PVAc immiscible blend. The mechanical properties of PVAc exhibit a strong reinforcement and the Young's modulus & tensile strength data show a 190% and 169% increase over PVAc in the GP5 sample due to the homogenous dispersion and unidirectional (parallel) orientation of GP sheets in the composite film.