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Thermo‐Responsive Assembly of Chemically Reduced Graphene and Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) |
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| Authors: | Da Young Lee Seyoung Yoon Yeon Jeong Oh Sung Young Park Insik In |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chungju National University, Daehak‐ro 72, Chungju 380‐702, Republic of Korea;2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chungju National University, Daehak‐ro 72, Chungju 380‐702, Republic of Korea |
| Abstract: | A stable aqueous solution of reduced graphene is prepared by chemical reduction of GO in the presence of PNIPAM in water through the hydrophobic interaction between graphene plates and PNIPAM backbones. Thermosensitive solubility switching of the graphene/PNIPAM assembly was successfully demonstrated below or above the LCST, which is higher (up to 42 °C) than the LCST of pure PNIPAM (36 °C) because interacting PNIPAM chains on graphene plates are less mobile than free PNIPAM chains. The success of PNIPAM as stabilizer for reduced graphene solution can be explained by both efficient hydrophobic interaction with graphene surface and matching of surface tension of water (72.8 mJ · m?2) with “graphene‐friendly surface tension” (40–50 mJ · m?2) by the presence of PNIPAM in water (41.8 mJ · m?2).  |
| Keywords: | hydrophobic interaction LCST poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) soluble graphene thermosensitive |