Well-Dispersed Chitosan/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites of chitosan and graphene oxide are prepared by simple self-assembly of both components in aqueous media. It is observed that graphene oxide is dispersed on a molecular scale in the chitosan matrix and some interactions occur between chitosan matrix and graphene oxide sheets. These are responsible for efficient load transfer between the nanofiller graphene and chitosan matrix. Compared with the pure chitosan, the tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the graphene-based materials are significantly improved by about 122 and 64%, respectively, with incorporation of 1 wt % graphene oxide. At the same time, the elongation at the break point increases remarkably. The experimental results indicate that graphene oxide sheets prefer to disperse well within the nanocomposites.

A review on the role of interface in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of polymer composites

“…Therefore, it can be counted as the primary motivation for nanocomposite development [28,29]. This parameter in addition to the stress transfer [28,30] is responsible for Bnew structural arrangement^at microscale in the composites. As a result, improving the interfacial regions can increase the chance of introducing new properties to the composites [28].…”

“…The presence of strong interaction between the matrix and the fillers (e.g., H-bonding [30,220], electrostatic interaction [220,221], and covalent bonding [222]) increase the T g while the free space at the interface of nonwetted fillers lead to reduced T g [204,223]. The absence of strong interfacial interaction of wetted fillers have no substantial impact on T g [182,204].…”

Graphene Oxide/Polymer‐Based Biomaterials

“…The mechanical properties of GO/ chitosan in the wet state were found to be advantageous for biomedical applications. [57] Similarly, Yang et al [58] prepared nanocomposites of GO/ chitosan. In this study, the amount of GO in chitosan was kept at 0.3, 0.5, and 1 wt%.…”

“…The significantly improved mechanical properties were attributed to the unidirectional homogeneous dispersion of GO in the chitosan matrix and strong interfacial interactions. [58] Different crosslinking methods were used to improve the mechanical properties of the nanocomposite films. Shao et al [59] crosslinked GO and chitosan at 100 C in order to enhance the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites.…”

“…Figure 3 shows the interaction between GO and chitosan, degradation studies with chitosan, and GO/chitosan films and the SEM images of porous GO/chitosan scaffolds. [57,58,64] Moreover, carboxymethyl chitosan and GO nanocomposites were developed to enhance physicochemical properties and osteoinductivity. Carboxymethyl chitosan was utilized because of its carboxyl and amino groups which led to the formation of scaffolds with improved physical properties and cellular activity.…”