Manufacturing and characterisation of PMMA-graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite sandwich films with electrospun nano-fibre core

Nanocomposite materials, comprising of polymer matrices and nano-sized reinforcements, exhibit significantly enhanced mechanical and functional properties at extremely low filler loading. In recent years, graphene oxide (GO) has emerged as a new class of low cost nano-filler with high mechanical strength and stiffness, and alterable electrical properties. For nano-fillers with layered structure like GO, complete exfoliation and uniform dispersion of filler in the polymer matrices is essential to enhance the matrix-filler interaction and in turn the mechanical and/or functional property improvement. Conventional nanocomposite manufacturing methods including in-situ polymerisation and solvent processing encounter the problem of agglomeration of GO films. Additionally, its low bulk density presents difficulties in handling, and the energy requirement for mechanical mixing and extrusion processes is very high. In this work, we report manufacturing of poly(methyl methacrylate)-graphene oxide (PMMA-GO) nano-fibre mat using relatively novel approach of employing electrospinning technique. The manufactured electrospun core was inserted between plain polymer layers to prepare a robust and easy to handle sandwich film. Morphology and structure of the PMMA-GO nano-fibre cores was evaluated with scanning and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The manufactured nano-fibre mat samples exhibited uniform diameter and dispersion. The functional parameters including thermal stability and gas barrier were evaluated with differential scanning calorimetry and oxygen permeation testing, and these functional properties were observed to be superior to that of monolithic polymer counterparts.