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Contrasting Effects of Graphene Oxide and Poly(ethylenimine) on the Polymorphism in Poly(vinylidene fluoride)
M. Sharma, , S. Bose
Published in American Chemical Society
2015
Volume: 15
   
Issue: 7
Pages: 3345 - 3355
Abstract
The nature of interaction between a heteronucleating agent (graphene oxide, GO) and a strongly polar macromolecule (poly(ethylenimine), PEI) with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) influencing the crystalline structure and morphology has been systematically investigated in this work. PEI interacts with PVDF via ion-dipole interaction, which helps in lowering the free energy barrier for nucleation thereby promoting faster crystallization. In contrast, besides interacting with PVDF, GO also promotes heteronucleation in PVDF. We observed that both GO and PEI have very different effects on the overall crystalline morphology of PVDF. For instance, the neat PVDF showed a mixture of both α and β phases when cooled from the melt. However, incorporation of 0.1 wt % GO resulted in phase transformation from the stable α-phase to polar β-polymorph in PVDF. In contrast, PEI, which also resulted in faster crystallization in PVDF predominantly, resulted in the stable α- phase. Various techniques like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry were employed to confirm the phase transformations in PVDF. PEI was further grafted onto GO nanosheets to understand the combined effects of both GO and PEI on the polymorphism in PVDF. The PVDF/PEI-GO composite showed a mixture of phases, predominantly rich in α. These phenomenal effects were further analyzed and corroborated with the specific interaction between GO and PEI with PVDF using X-ray photon scattering (XPS) and NMR. In addition, the dielectric permittivity increased significantly in the presence of GO and PEI in the composites. For instance, PVDF/PEI-GO showed the highest permittivity of 39 at 100 Hz. (Chemical Equation Presented). © 2015 American Chemical Society.
About the journal
JournalData powered by TypesetCrystal Growth and Design
PublisherData powered by TypesetAmerican Chemical Society
ISSN15287483