Graphene nanosheets (GNSs) possess outstanding conductivity, good thermal and chemical stabilities and desirable mechanical strengths. However, the unfunctionalized GNSs are hydrophobic and insoluble in water, which limits their application in many technological areas. Herein, we report a design strategy to exfoliate few-layered aqueous dispersible graphene by a simple ball-milling technique. The modifier of sodium lignosulfonate (LS) enables to synthesize LS-decorated GNSs from natural graphite based on the strong π-π interaction, greatly improving GNSs dispersion in water. The resultant GNSs exhibit a high production yield (∼100%), high dispersion concentration and excellent film formation ability. The electrical and thermal conductivities of the as-prepared graphene paper were up to 2385 S cm and 1324 W m K, respectively, superior to those of most previously reported graphene materials. This graphene paper with the superb electrical and thermal conduction properties also exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility and structure intensity during bending, which has potential usages in electronic packaging and high power thermal management.
Graphene, a novel nanofiller with excellent mechanical properties and high thermal and electrical conductivity, has the potential to enhance the value-added properties of polymer composites. In this study, we synthesized furan diepoxide (FdE) monomer and used it as a graphene dispersant. Graphene suspensions with concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/mL were used as epoxy reactive diluents to improve the properties of graphene/epoxy nanocomposites. The UV and Raman spectra show that π−π interactions between the graphene nanosheets and FdE stabilized the graphene in the FdE suspension. Dispersion of 2.0 mg/mL of nanosheets into an epoxy resin enhanced the tensile strength by 26.8%, tensile modulus by 40.4%, flexural strength by 21.6%, flexural modulus by 16.8%, and glass transition temperature by 7.2%.
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