A Study on Poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene)-graft-Polystyrene Reinforced with Two Functional Nanofillers

A facile route was adopted to graft polystyrene on poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) matrix. Poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene)-graft-polystyrene (PVAE-g-PS) was then reinforced with two types of nanofillers, i.e., graphene oxide (GO) and nanodiamond functional graphene oxide (GO-ND). PVAE-g-PS/GO and PVAE-g-PS/GO-ND nanocomposite series reinforced with 0.1—5 wt.% nanofiller were fabricated by solution processing. Structure of nanofillers and composite was confirmed by FTIR. FESEM imaging revealed that nanodiamond functional GO platelets were fully incorporated into matrix. TGA demonstrated enhanced stability of PVAE-g-PS/GO-ND nanomposites containing GO-ND. Similarly, UL 94 and electrical conductivity measurement of GO-ND-based system were found to be superior compared to one of copolymer/GO.