Effect of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide on the Properties of Sunflower Oil-Based Polyurethane Films

Sunflower oil was used for the synthesis of a polyol via an epoxidation reaction followed by a ring-opening reaction. The successful synthesis of the sunflower oil-based polyol (SFO polyol) was demonstrated through structural characterizations and wet-chemistry analysis. Bio-based polyurethane (BPU) films were fabricated using synthesized polyol and diisocyanate. Various amounts of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were added separately to see their effect on the physicomechanical and thermal properties of BPU films. Several tests, such as thermogravimetric analysis, tensile strength, dynamic mechanical analysis, hardness, flexural strength, and the water contact angle, were performed to evaluate the effect of GO and rGO on the properties of the BPU films. Some of the analyses of the BPU films demonstrated an improvement in the mechanical properties, for example, the tensile strength increased from 22.5 to 26 MPa with the addition of only 0.05 wt.% GO. The storage modulus improved from 900 to 1000 and 1700 MPa after the addition of 0.02 and 0.05 wt.% GO, respectively. This study shows that a small amount of GO and rGO could improve the properties of BPU films, making them suitable for use in coating industries.