Properties and structural characterization of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene oxide nano composites

Chitosan (CS)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites in the form of films are prepared in a casting and solvent evaporation method. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractions (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), tensile testing and moisture uptake were used to study the structure and properties of these chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) /graphene oxide (PCS/GO-n) nanocomposites. The result from tensile testing indicated that the nanocomposite containing 2 wt% GO exhibits high tensile strength (71.21 MPa) with a large elongation at break (51.8%). The high mechanical properties of the nanocomposite films are mainly due to uniform dispersion of GO sheets in the polymer matrix and strong interfacial interactions among components.