Strong and tough graphene/PVC composites with well dispersed graphene via dropwise coagulation and melt blending methods

Toward strong and tough reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites, GO/PVC particles with well dispersed GO are prepared via dropwise coagulation using homogenous GO/PVC dispersion. Then, rGO/PVC composite materials are obtained by reducing GO with VC and melt blending. With low GO content by weight (GO:PVC = 0.2:100), the rGO/PVC composite's tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus and toughness are increased by 100.1 %, 102.4 %, 179.1 % and 432.3 %, respectively. Further, the rGO/PVC particles with high GO content (GO:PVC = 1:100) are applied as functional masterbatch for commercial PVC-based wood plastic composite (WPC). With only 0.07 wt% GO (relative to WPC), the tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus and toughness of WPC are enhanced by 62.4 %, 75.4 %, 57.2 % and 236.3 %, respectively. This study provides a simple approach to obtain strong and tough graphene/PVC composites toward industrial application.