Characterizations and performances of polysulfone/graphene oxide with structural defects repaired by cellulose nanocrystals

Abstract In this article, the nanofillers of graphene oxide (GO) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC), which called GC, was prepared. The X‐ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), Raman spectra, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were carried out for its characterizations. Besides, its influences on mechanical properties, thermal stability and gas barrier properties of polysulfone (PSF) composites were also studied. The hydrophilic interaction occurs between GO and CNC, so that CNC repaired the structural defects of GO. The intensity ratio of D peak to G peak (I_D/I_G) in Raman spectra of GC was 0.96, which was less than the raw GO's I_D/I_G of 1.04. Compared with GO, GC could more effectively improve the tensile strength (+39.8%), elongation‐at‐break (+20.6%), Young's modulus (+30.7%), thermal decomposition temperature (+13°C) and O₂ permeability (−95.2%) of PSF composites. At the content of 0.5 wt%, GC had the most significant effect on the performance of PSF composites.