One-pot synthesis of conducting poly(3-methylthiophene)-grafted-graphene nanosheets.

We report a simple one-pot synthesis of graphene nanosheets wrapped poly(3-methylthiophene) (GNs-f-P3MT) composites. At first, natural graphite was oxidized using the Hummer's method followed by chemical reduction with hydrazine monohydrate to yield GNs. Subsequently, in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of 3-methylthiophene was carried out to obtain noncovalently bonded GNs-f-P3MT composites. The morphology and microstructure of the composites together with pure graphene oxide and GNs were characterized using XPS, XRD, FT-IR, FESEM, HRTEM and TGA. The microscopic results indicated the homogeneous dispersion of GNs throughout the polymer matrix. Furthermore, thermogravimetric results illustrated that the addition of GNs into the P3MT matrix led to improvement in the thermal stability of the composites.