Functionalization and reduction of graphene oxide with p-phenylene diamine for electrically conductive and thermally stable polystyrene composites

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2012 Apr;4(4):1948-53. doi: 10.1021/am201654b. Epub 2012 Mar 26.

Abstract

A facile and efficient approach was developed to simultaneously functionalize and reduce graphene oxide (GO) with p-phenylene diamine (PPD) by simple refluxing. This was possible by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of epoxide groups of GO with amine groups of PPD aided by NH(3) solution. As a consequence, electrical conductivity of GO-PPD increased to 2.1 × 10(2) S/m, which was nearly 9 orders of magnitude higher than that of GO. Additionally, after the incorporation of GO-PPD in polystyrene (PS), the composites exhibited a sharp transition from electrically insulating to conducting behavior with a low percolation threshold of ~0.34 vol %, which was attributed to the improved dispersion and the reduction of GO-PPD. Thermal stability of the PS/GO-PPD composite was also ~8 °C higher than that of PS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't