Enhanced Epoxy/GO Composites Mechanical and Thermal Properties by Removing Air Bubbles with Shear Mixing and Ultrasonication

Abstract Epoxy‐graphene oxide composites were prepared through the homogeneous dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) in epoxy via shear mixing and ultrasonication techniques. Mechanical and thermal properties of the composites were evaluated. Final composite samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and x‐ray diffraction analyses. The thickness of the prepared GO sheet was calculated by atomic force microscopy. Herein, we report a remarkable enhancement in thermal along with mechanical properties of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A (DGEBA) based epoxy matrix upon adding small amounts (≤1.5 wt%) of GO into the glassy epoxy system. With the incorporation of only 0.5 wt% GO the tensile strength and Young's modulus were found to be increased by 67.4% and 43.2%, respectively compared to neat epoxy; in addition, 3.7 folds improvement was achieved in the impact strength at the same GO content. In agreement with mechanical properties, resulting composites also showed better thermal stability together with promising improvement in glass transition temperature. The glass transition temperature was enhanced by 25.8 °C for the composite with 0.1 wt% GO. Therefore, the prepared composite will have potential applicability in the field of material science with improved mechanical and thermal response.