In situ preparation of graphene-ZnO composites for enhanced graphite exfoliation and graphene-nylon-6 composite films

An effective method for the fabrication of graphene-ZnO nanoparticle (GZN) composites has been developed. GZN composites with high electrical conductivity (18,607 S/m) are prepared in situ from graphite-ZnO composites. The GZN composites also exhibit visible-light absorption and enable the effective exfoliation of graphite. The presence of the ZnO nanoparticles assists the exfoliation of graphite and enables the preparation of solutions of highly dispersed and concentrated graphene sheets (2.7 mg/mL) that exhibit high electrical conductivity without reduction (40,404 S/m). A solution of graphene sheets was used to produce a graphene-nylon-6 film with an excellent Young's modulus (3 GPa) and a high tensile strength (109 MPa). An exclusive mechanism was proposed for the improvement of mechanical properties of the nylon-6 composite film.