Thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of epoxy vitrimer nanocomposites reinforced with graphene oxide

Novel nanocomposite film materials were fabricated by thiol-epoxy click reaction in the presence of  ≤ 1.0 wt% graphene oxide (GO). SEM, X-ray diffraction, and FTIR techniques were used for comprehensive characterization of the nanocomposites' morphology and structure. The grafting of GO into the epoxy vitrimer network was confirmed. The effect of loadings of GO on the mechanical properties of nanocomposite films was examined. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of nanocomposite material increase by 69 and 46%, respectively, with the addition of 0.5 wt% GO. The flexibility of the nanocomposite films improved more than fourfold by adding 1.0 wt% GO compared to the epoxy vitrimer matrix. The gas-microphone photoacoustic approach was applied for the thermal conductivity evaluation of the samples. The nanocomposites showed a maximum increase in thermal conductivity almost two times with the addition of 1.0 wt% GO as compared to the polymer matrix.