Fabrication and properties of rigid polyurethane nanocomposite foams with functional isocyanate modified graphene oxide

Abstract The modified graphene oxide (GO) with different specific functional groups were prepared and introduced into rigid polyurethane foam (PUF). It was proved that NCO groups were bonded on the surface of GO, which could participate into the polyurethane foaming reaction and dramatically improve the interactions between the filler and matrix. It was found that the cell morphology and the mechanical properties of the PUFs could be effectively improved by adding an appropriate amount of modified GO. The isocyanate‐modified GO could form a stable chemical bond with the matrix, which was more beneficial to improve the mechanical properties. The thermal conductivity slightly increased with the increase of modified GO, however the values were still low enough for thermal insulation applications. Thus, these nanocomposite foams with improved structure and properties would find wide applications in the thermal insulation areas.