LAUSR

In this work, nano polystyrene (nPS) decorated graphene oxide (GO) hybrid nanostructures were successfully synthesized using stepwise micro emulsion polymerization, and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and FTIR spectra revealed the existence of a strong interaction between the nPS and GO, which implies that the polymer chains were successfully grafted onto the surface of the GO. The nPS decorated GO hybrid nanostructures were compounded with epoxy by hand lay-up technique, and the effect of the nPS-GO on the mechanical, thermal and surface morphological properties of the epoxy matrix was investigated by Universal tensile machine (UTM), Izod impact tester, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and contact angle measurement by a goniometer. It was observed that in the epoxy matrix, GO improved the compatibility.