High loss factor piezoelectric damping composite with three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide as the conductive phase

In this study, a lead zirconate titanate (PZT)/in situ polymerized polyurethane (PU) composite with three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as the conductive phase was prepared and the potential of 3D rGO to enhance the damping properties was investigated. The conductivity and damping properties of the composite were systematically investigated. The results show that the conductive threshold of the composite is reached at a very low rGO content of about 0.7 wt% by using the 3D rGO structure. The best damping performance of the piezoelectric damping composite is achieved at the conductive threshold, where the loss factor is 0.22 (almost 41%) higher and the temperature range where tan δ ≥ 0.3 is 13.2 °C (almost 84%) wider than those of the PU matrix. A composite consisting of only PU and rGO sheets without the 3D structure was prepared for comparison. The conductive threshold of this composite is more than 0.9 wt% and the highest tensile strength is 5.63 MPa when the rGO content is 0.6 wt%, indicating that the 3D structure reduces the use of the conductive phase and does not significantly affect the tensile strength of the matrix.