Graphene oxide grafted by hyperbranched polysiloxane to enhance mechanical and frictional properties of epoxy resin

A novel hyperbranched polysiloxane functionalized graphene oxide (HPBSi-GO) containing abundant primary amine, tertiary amine and hydroxyl groups was designed and successfully synthesized though efficient “grafting to” method. The as-synthesized HBPSi-GO was confirmed by FT-IR, XPS and AFM. Moreover, the HPBSi-GO was incorporated into epoxy (EP) resin matrix to fabricate HPBSi-GO/EP composites. The results showed that the HPBSi-GO has better dispersibility than that of unmodified GO in EP matrix. Interestingly, the mechanical and frictional properties of HPBSi-GO/EP composites were simultaneously superior to those of neat epoxy resin. AFM and TOM results revealed that the good properties mainly attributed to the unique inorganic–organic structure of HBPSi-GO, as well as the good interfacial adhesion between HBPSi-GO and EP matrix.