Influence of molecular weight of polymer matrix on the structure and rheological properties of graphene oxide/polydimethylsiloxane composites.
writer：Ran Niu, Jiang Gong, Donghua Xu*, Tao Tang, Zhao-Yan Sun*.
keywords：Graphene oxide, Polydimethylsiloxane, Molecular weight of polymer matrix
source：期刊
specific source：Polymer 2014, 55, 5445-5453.
Issue time：2014年
The structure and rheological properties of graphene oxide (GO)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites are examined as the molecular weight of PDMS and concentration of GO are varied. Clusters formed by GO sheets get smaller and disperse better with increasing molecular weight of PDMS, which results in the higher critical concentration to form network (Ccr). Moreover, at GO concentration just above Ccr, the plateau modulus of samples decreases with the molecular weight of PDMS. During shear experiments, negative normal stress differences (DN) are observed in composites with PDMS molecular weight lower than critical entanglement molecular weight (Mc). However, positive DN is found in samples with PDMS molecular weight above Mc. It can be concluded that the vorticity alignment of GO clusters induces the negative DN based on the optical shear experiments. The possible mechanism for the positive DN is also proposed.