Preparation and characterization of nanocomposites of poly(p‐phenylene benzobisoxazole) with aminofunctionalized graphene

We describe a novel strategy to design and prepare poly(p‐phenylenebenzobisoxazole) (PBO)/graphene composite. Amino graphene (AG) was first modified by terephthalic acid (PTA) to improve the reactivity, solubility, and dispersivity of graphene in PBO. Without separation and purification, AG‐PTA was further incorporated with PBO through in situ polymerization, and PBO/AG composite films were obtained by thermoforming process. The structure and morphology of AG‐PTA and PBO/AG films were characterized and the mechanical and thermal properties were investigated. The incorporation of graphene improved the thermal stability of PBO. Mechanical property measurements revealed that the PBO/AG films exhibited a tensile strength (155 MPa) and Young's modulus (6.7 GPa) at a AG loading of 1.5 wt%, corresponding to 46 and 86% increase compared to the PBO film, respectively. The one‐pot in situ procedure wraps AG with PBO chains, improves the dispersion and alignment of AG in PBO matrix, and enhances PBO chain packing order, which are considered to be the main reasons for the performance improvement of PBO. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2969–2976, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers