Fabrication of two-dimensional hybrid sheets by decorating insulating PANI on reduced graphene oxide for polymer nanocomposites with low dielectric loss and high dielectric constant

Novel polyaniline decorated reduced graphene oxide (rPANI@rGO) two-dimensional (2D) hybrids sheets were successfully prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline on graphene oxide (GO) sheets and successive reduction by hydrazine. PANI is heavily reduced, thus it is electrically insulating. The hybrid sheets were used as a novel filler for high performance poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites. Our results show that, when compared with the PMMA/rGO composites, the PMMA/rPANI@rGO nanocomposites not only show a high dielectric constant but also have low dielectric loss. For example, at 1000 Hz, a dielectric constant of 40 and a dielectric loss of 0.12 were observed in the PMMA/rPANI@rGO nanocomposite with rGO/PMMA volume ratio of 6%, whereas the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of PMMA/rGO composite with rGO/PMMA volume ratio of 6% are about 20 and 1250, respectively. More importantly, the dielectric properties of PMMA/rPANI@rGO nanocomposites can be tuned by controlling the addition of the hybrid sheets. The improved dielectric properties in PMMA/rPANI@rGO nanocomposites should originate from the isolation effect of rPANI on the rGO in PMMA matrix, which not only improves the dispersion of rGO but also hinders the direct electrical contact between rGO. This research sets up a novel route to polymer composites with high dielectric constants and low dielectric loss, and also expands the application space of graphene-based fillers.