Cambridge, UK – A scientific paper outlining a graphene composite technique which utilises polyurethane technology was published in the latest edition of Royal Society of Chemistry’s RSC Advances journal.
Graphene is formed from a single sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-shaped lattice.
The method involves the use of an in-situ polymerization technique for preparing a graphene oxide (GO) reinforced hyperbranched polyurethane (HPU) composite.
According to the paper, an 84% grafting yield was achieved after the removal of non-attached HPU from the composites. Researchers found that “the covalently bonded graphene sheets with hyperbranched polyurethane were homogeneously dispersed due to grafted HPU-assisted dispersion in the pure polymer matrix.”
Compared to pure hyperbranched polyurethane, graphene-based shape memory polyurethane composites exhibit higher modulus and breaking stress, and exceptional elongation-at-break, according to the paper.
It said the composite exhibited 98% shape recovery, 93% shape retention and enhanced thermal stability.
RSC Advances is part of collections RSC Gold, Core Chemistry and General Chemistry published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This article was published online on 12 March.
