Mechanically
Stable Thermally Crosslinked Poly(acrylic
acid)/Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogels
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Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO) aerogels, high
porosity (>99%) low density
(∼3–10 mg cm<sup>–3</sup>) porous materials with
GO pore walls, are particularly attractive due to their lightweight,
high surface area, and potential use in environmental remediation,
superhydrophobic and superoleophilic materials, energy storage, etc.
However, pure GO aerogels are generally weak and delicate which complicates
their handling and potentially limits their commercial implementation.
The focus of this work was to synthesize highly elastic, mechanically
stable aerogels that are robust and easy to handle without substantially
sacrificing their high porosity or low density. To overcome this challenge,
a small amount of readily available and thermally cross-linkable poly(acrylic
acid) (PAA) was intermixed with GO to enhance the mechanical integrity
of the aerogel without disrupting other desirable characteristic properties.
This method is a simple straightforward procedure that does not include
multistep or complicated chemical reactions, and it produces aerogels
with mass densities of about 4–6 mg cm<sup>–3</sup> and
>99.6% porosity that can reversibly support up to 10 000
times
their weight with full recovery of their original volume. Finally,
pressure sensing capabilities were demonstrated and their oil absorption
capacities were measured to be around 120 g oil per g aerogel<sup>–1</sup> which highlights their potential use in practical
applications