Crystallization, mechanical performance and hydrolytic degradation of poly(butylene succinate)/graphene oxide nanocomposites obtained via in situ polymerization

Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were fabricated via in situ polymerization with very low GO content (from 0.03 to 0.5 wt%). The microstructures of the nanocomposites were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), sedimentation experiments and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that PBS chains have been successfully grafted onto GO sheets during in-situ polymerization, accompanied by the thermo-reduction from GO to graphene. The grafted GO displayed a great nucleating effect on PBS crystallization, resulting in largely improved crystallization temperature and decreased spherules size. A simultaneous enhancement in tensile strength and elongation was achieved for PBS/GO nanocomposites fiber. Meanwhile, increase in hydrolytic degradation rate was also observed for these nanohybrids. Our result indicates that using very low content GO is a simple way to achieve good dispersion yet with remarkable property enhancement for polymer/GO nanocomposites. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.