Investigation of Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogels Containing Graphene Oxide

Dowan Kim, Sanghoon Wang, Heon Sang Lee, Jinhwan Yoon
2015 Porrime  
In this study, we have prepared poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) hydrogel containing graphene oxide (GO) by a simple mixing of a solution containing the monomers and aqueous GO through radical polymerization. Mechanical property of the PNIPAm/GO was investigated by measuring storage modulus using a rheometer. PNIPAm containing 3 wt% of GO showed the highest storage modulus among the samples of various GO contents. In this GO content, the exfoliated GO sheets were well dispersed in the
more » ... el matrix, enhacing the mechanical property of the hydrogel. We found that the dense porous structure consisted of small channels was formed in the PNIPAm containing 3 wt% of GO. The storage moduli of the PNIPAm/GO hydrogels were rapidly increased near the lower critical solution temperature of the PNIPAm during heating. We concluded that the mechanical property of PNIPAm/GO was closely related to the porous structure of the hydrogels that was affected by the dispersion state of GO in the matrix.
doi:10.7317/pk.2015.39.5.788 fatcat:frwptelmwnhwlj2ww72v7v2r7q