Controllably coated graphene oxide particles with enhanced compatibility with poly(ethylene-co-propylene) thermoplastic elastomer for excellent photo-mechanical actuation capability

Abstract This paper reports the utilization of the controllable coating via SI-ATRP technique as a promising approach for controlling stimuli-responsive capabilities of graphene oxide (GO) based nanocomposites. Various polymer brushes with controlled molar mass and narrow dispersity were grown from the surface of GO particles. Modification of GO with poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(n-butyl methacrylate) was proved by transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis with online FTIR recording and finally by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Densities of GO-based materials were investigated and conductivity measurements showed the increase values. XPS and Raman shift was used to confirm the GO particles reduction. A compatibility of the filler with propylene-based elastomer was elucidated by melt rheology. The light-induced actuation capability was investigated on composite samples to show, that polymer hybrid particles based on GO have better compatibility with the polymer matrix and thus their proper dispersibility was significantly improved. In addition the plasticizing effect of the short polymer grafts present on the GO filler surface has the crucial impact on the matrix stiffness and thus the ability of composite material to reversibly respond to the external light stimulation.