Fabrication and characterization of polyaniline functionalized graphene nanosheets (GNSs)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposite films

In this study, graphene nanosheets (GNSs)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) nanocomposites and the novel polyaniline (PANI)-functionalized graphene nanosheets (GNSs)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) nanocomposites were fabricated successfully. GNSs and PANI-functionalized GNSs were dispersed in PDMS matrix at different nanofiller concentration and nanocomposites were prepared via solution casting method. PANI functionalization were performed by in-situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of GNSs and was used in order to be dispersed homogenously and efficiently in the PDMS matrix. Besides graphene layers were also isolated to hinder aggregation in the polymeric matrix. The effect of PANI functionalization of GNSs and filler concentration on dielectric, electrical and mechanical properties of nanocomposite films were investigated. According to dielectric measurements, the dielectric constant of polymer nanocomposites highly dependant on frequency, so dielectric constant was characterized in a wide frequency range (1 Hz–10 MHz) at room temperature, in this study. The dielectric constant of PDMS nanocomposites containing 1.50% GNSs and 1.50% PANI-GNSs increased by 111 times and 24 times, at 1 Hz, compared to pure PDMS, respectively. Besides, electrical conductivity increased 6868 and 1474 times with the addition of GNSs and PANI-GNSs, respectively. Optimized GNSs/PDMS and PANI-functionalized GNSs/PDMS nanocomposites can be candidate for soft actuators to be used in artificial muscle applications, in the future.