Functionalization of polyallylamine on graphene oxide

This work explains the functionalization of polyallylamine (PAA) on the graphene oxide (GO) sheets following a chemical route. The resulting GO-PAA complex is characterized by using various imaging and analytical tools. In the Raman spectroscopy for both the GO and GO-PAA, the appearance of D and G characteristic bands correspond to the sp2 and sp3 contents, respectively, in the carbon sheets. The observation of lowered D/G peak intensity ratio of these peaks from 1.3 for GO to 1.1 for GO-PAA indicates the lowering of the D favored sp2 content in the GO sheet after PAA functionalization. In the Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, the disappearance of the vibrational modes for ketone and carboxyl groups, and appearance of the amine (-NH) group confirms the chemical interaction of GO and PAA triggered with the -NH group of PAA interacting with the oxygen contained hydroxyl, epoxy, and carboxylic groups of the GO sheets to form the GO-PAA complex. Scanning electron microscopy imaging indicates opaque layers with no distinction of flakes after PAA functionalization. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press