Strong graphene oxide nanocomposites from aqueous hybrid liquid crystals
M. S. Hegde, Lin Yang, Francesco Vita, Ryan Fox, Renee van de Watering, Ben Norder, Ugo Lafont, Oriano Francescangeli, Louis A. Madsen, Stephen J. Picken, Edward T. Samulski, Theo J. Dingemans
Abstract
Combining polymers with small amounts of stiff carbon-based nanofillers such as graphene or graphene oxide is expected to yield low-density nanocomposites with exceptional mechanical properties. However, such nanocomposites have remained elusive because of incompatibilities between fillers and polymers that are further compounded by processing difficulties. Here we report a water-based process to obtain highly reinforced nanocomposite films by simple mixing of two liquid crystalline solutions: a colloidal nematic phase comprised of graphene oxide platelets and a nematic phase formed by a rod-like high-performance aramid. Upon drying the resulting hybrid biaxial nematic phase, we obtain robust, structural nanocomposites reinforced with graphene oxide.