Characterization of Paper-Like Material Prepared from Chitosan/Graphene Oxide Composite

Chitosan (CTS) is considered to be a common biomacromolecule/poly-cationic compound containing the potential functional groups that can be utilized as a feedstock for novel materials. In this study, CTS/graphene oxide (CTS/GO, CG) mixtures were prepared at different conditions to confirm a suitable hydrogel formation, then applied to produce paper-like materials with various thickness via a simple casting method. As a result, the morphological structure of finally yielded the paper-like materials (CG2 papers with the various number of casting times) obtained the layer-by-layer structures instead of the tightly-sticky paper-like structure (GO paper). Basing on the possible interactions between the CTS molecules and GO nanosheets occurred in the CG mixtures could be also determined by FTIR and Raman analysis; concomitantly, its thermal property reaches higher than that of the pure GO. Notably, the strong interactions and compatibility of the CTS molecules and GO nanosheets revealed a good dispersion and interfacial adhesion leading to significantly enhancing the mechanical properties of the CG2 paper-like materials with increasing number of casting times or comparing to GO paper. Therefore, the CG2 paper-like materials with the various number of casting times fabricated in the present study can expose new approaches for the design and application of future foil/paper-like materials, as well as the desired thickness of these foil/paper-like materials can be controlled easily.