Amphiphilic reduced graphene oxide is obtained by oleo-functionalization with epoxidized methyl oleate (renewable feedstock) using a green process. The excellent diverse solvent-dispersivity of the oleo-reduced amphiphilic graphene and its reduction chemistry are confirmed in this study. Oleo-reduction of amphiphilic graphene is amenable to industrially viable processes to produce future graphene-based polymer composites and systems.
The main challenge in converting
polymerized epoxidized plant oils
(P-EPO) to high performance materials is the limitation of their short
cross-link structures and brittle properties. Herein, a network (N-2)
fabricated from a renewable material, dihydrocoumarin (DHC), demonstrated
the potential to overcome substantially the brittleness of P-EPO material.
The fused ring in DHC was successfully opened via a solvent-free chromium(III)
salen-mediated pathway, and a novel network, termed N-2, was created
through an alternating copolymerization of DHC and diglycidyl ether
epoxides. Repeating ether units in N-2 offered the capacity to sustain
large deformation, and phenoxide end groups provided the reactivity
to attack epoxides. Once a double network was built between N-2 and
EPO derived network (N-1), a substantial performance improvement of
P-EPO could be achieved. We targeted epoxidized soybean oil (ESO)
as the model material, which showed a significant toughness enhancement
(9-fold improvement in elongation at break combined with 85% tensile
strength retention compared to the control P-ESO) after the introduction
of N-2 network. Creep behaviors revealed the introduction of N-2 in
P-ESO matrix lengthened the chains between cross-links, prolonged
the response process and transferred the stress from N-1 segments
to N-2 segments to retard P-ESO network fracture.
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