Bioinspired Layer-by-Layer Poly(vinyl alcohol) - Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites

ABSTRACTA bottom-up approach for poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) - graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites using a spraying method is presented. Very simple and versatile, spraying allows to build-up uniform layered composite films with good control on the structure of each layer. 150 bi-layers were deposited to create a transparent film with improved mechanical properties at a loading of 5.4 wt.% GO. The Young’s modulus and strength of these films doubled or nearly doubled which is believed to be due to a synergic effect as a result of the nanoscale organization of the composite by the 2D nanofiller, and hydrogen bonding between the PVA and the GO.