SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF OG-HYDROGELS COMPOSITES.

PEREYRA, JESICA; SALAVAGIONE HORACIO J.; CONEO RODRIGUEZ, RUSBEL; ACEVEDO, DIEGO F.; BARBERO, CESAR

Congreso; Segundo Taller Latinoamericano de Materiales de Carbono; 2016

AbstractHere we present the preparation of new hydrogel nanocomposites containing graphene oxide (GO) in the polymer network. Nanocomposites of homopolymers from N-isopropyl acrylamide, acrylamide and from acrylamide and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) copolymers with 1%, 5% and 10% molar ratios are produced. The simplest nanocomposites preparation procedure includes a single step of GO dispersion in the monomers solution and the subsequent polymerization starting by the incorporation of a redox initiator. The texture of the nanocomposites was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM images show that the surface was very compact, indicating that GO sheets were dispersed homogeneously in the polymer matrix. Characterization experiments demonstrated that the GO inside of the polymer network dismissed the swelling values. The incorporation of GO clearly increased the elasticity module, for all the synthesized nanocomposites. Also, the electrical conductivity of the materials increased as the applied compression force increased, and achieve a maximum value at 35.1mN. Moreover, the electrochemical properties of the hydrogels were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and a rectangular shape of the curves at a scan rate of 50 mV/s was observed, indicating that the electrical charge and discharge response is highly reversible.