Octadecylamine-grafted graphene oxide helps the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in ethylene vinyl acetate

Abstract

In this paper, the dispersion of carbon nanotube (CNT) in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is demonstrated to be significantly improved by the addition of octadecylamine (ODA)-grafted graphene oxide (GO) (GO–ODA). Compared to the CNT/EVA composite, the resultant GO–ODA/CNT/EVA (G–CNT/EVA) composite shows simultaneous increases in tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break. Notably, the elongation at break of the G–CNT/EVA composite still maintains a relatively high value of 1268% at 2.0 wt % CNT content, which is more than 1.6 times higher than that of CNT/EVA composite (783%). This should be attributed to the homogeneous dispersion of CNT as well as the strong interfacial interaction between CNT and EVA originating from the solubilization effect of GO–ODA. Additionally, the G–CNT/EVA composites exhibit superior electrical conductivity at low CNT contents but inferior value at high CNT contents, compared to that for the CNT/EVA composite, which depends on the balance of CNT dispersion and the preservation of insulating GO–ODA. Our strategy provides a new pathway to prepare high performance polymer composites with well-dispersed CNT.