Low-temperature radiation polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene in the presence of the carbon material obtained by explosive exfoliation of graphite oxide

An NMR, DSC, and IR spectroscopy study of the composite formed during low-temperature postradiation polymerization of C2F4 in the presence of a 3D graphene material

“…The results of elemental analysis and measurement of the specific surface area of GO and MEGO were reported in [3]. Microwave treatment substantially reduces the amounts of oxygen (from 44.8 to 4.2 wt %) and hydrogen (from 2.7 to 0.7 wt %) in the sample and significantly enlarges its specific surface area (from 20 to 600 m 2 /g).…”

“…It should be noted that the yield of the polymer in the postradiation low temperature polymerization of TFE in the pres ence of MEGO is four to six times that in the case of pure TFE, other conditions being the same (table). Based on these data, we can state that the active sites initiating the polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene and providing for the higher yield of the polymer are MEGO oxygen radicals, as shown in [3]. The data obtained in this study suggest that the chain termina tion occurs on the reactive functional groups of the graphene material, since the conventional terminal groups -CF 2 -CF 3 or -CF=CF 2 are not present in the NMR spectrum.…”

“…Polytetrafluo roethylene produced under these conditions is charac terized by the formation of chemical bonds with the nanocarbon matrix. To understand the motivation of bonding the graphene like matrix with tetrafluoroeth ylene polymer chains, calculation by the self consistent density functional theory in the strong coupling approximation (SCC DFTB) was performed for per fluoroalkyl derivatives of graphene oxide nanosheets, which revealed that nanosheet bonding to the oligomer through the oxygen bridge is energetically favored [3].…”

“…In [1] we found that γ irradiation at Т = -196°C of a tetrafluoroethylene (C 2 F 4 ) mixture with a graphene material produced by explosive exfoliation of graphite oxide (MEGO) [2] and the subsequent warming of the irradiated mixture to 23°C result in the formation of a composite material with PTFE. The resulting compos ite material holds promise as a base for membranes that can be used in fuel cells, power sources, and superca pacitors, and for manufacturing articles with a lower flowability and a higher wear resistance compared with PTFE.…”

“…The resulting compos ite material holds promise as a base for membranes that can be used in fuel cells, power sources, and superca pacitors, and for manufacturing articles with a lower flowability and a higher wear resistance compared with PTFE. In [3] we studied this composite by X ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS data showed that the low temperature polymerization of tetrafluo roethylene in a TFE + MEGO mixture involves short lived oxygen radicals generated by radiation induced degradation of MEGO hydroxyl groups.…”