Attaching SiO2 nanoparticles to GO sheets via amino-terminated hyperbranched polymer for epoxy composites: Extraordinary improvement in thermal and mechanical properties

Abstract The deposition of nano-silica (SiO2) on graphene oxide (GO) surface via amino-terminated hyperbranched polymer (HBP) was designed to improve the dispersion and interfacial interaction between GO and epoxy resin. The structures and morphologies of GO and GO-SiO2 sheets were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, TG, SEM and TEM. Epoxy composites containing GO and GO-SiO2 with 0.1 wt% loadings were prepared and systemically investigated. It was indicated that the GO-SiO2/epoxy composites displayed higher mechanical and thermal properties than that of GO or SiO2 composites. For epoxy composites containing 0.1 wt% GO-SiO2, the flexural strength increased by 20.57% and 23.58% compared to that of individual GO composites and individual SiO2 composites, respectively. Furthermore, the reinforcing mechanisms have been also illuminated. This work is expected to be beneficial to the designing of adhesive-bonded composite structures or components.