Chinese Journal of Physics 55 (2017) 412–422 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chinese Journal of Physics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cjph Synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites films with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide nanosheets Meryem Goumri a , Christophe Poilâne b , Pierre Ruterana b , Bessem Ben Doudou b , Jany Wéry c , Anass Bakour a,c , Mimouna Baitoul a,∗ a University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Laboratory of Solid state Physics, Group of Polymers and nanomaterials, PO Box 1796 Atlas Fez 30 000, Morocco b CIMAP, UMR6252 CNRS-CEA-ENSICAEN-Université de Caen Basse Normandie, Caen 14050, France c Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, Université de Nantes, CNRS, UMR 6502, 2 rue de la Houssinière, PO Box 3229 Nantes, Cedex 44322 France a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 18 July 2016 Revised 11 December 2016 Accepted 29 December 2016 Available online 27 February 2017 Keywords: Composite materials Graphene Poly (vinyl alcohol) Thermal and mechanical properties a b s t r a c t Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (CRGO), as a graphene derivatives, pos- sess unique properties and a high aspect ratio, indicating great potential in nanocomposite fields. The present work reports the fabrication of the nanocomposite films by a simple and environmentally friendly process using aqueous solution and optimized time sonication for better exfoliation of the graphene sheets within Poly(Vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as matrix. The films were characterized using high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mi- crotensile testing, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM images revealed a successfully exfoliation of the GO/CRGO nanosheets. XRD combined with TGA and DSC measurements showed an improvement in the ther- mal stability and tunable thermal properties. In addition, the Young’s modulus and tensile yield strength of the composite films containing 1 wt% GO were obtained to be 4.92 GPa and 66 MPa respectively. These excellent reinforcement effects were achieved by the strong interaction between the components. © 2017 The Physical Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since its discovery in 2004 [1], graphene as an allotrope carbon form of periodic sp 2 bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice and nanoscale materials based on graphene have attracted considerable atten- tion due to their unique electronic, thermal and mechanical properties such as the high intrinsic mobility (200,000 cm 2 /Vs) [2], thermal conductivity (5000 W/mK) [3], Young’s modulus (1.0 TPA), breaking strength (125 GPa) [4], and high theoretical specific surface area (2630 m 2 /g) [5]. Graphene and its derivative such as graphene oxide (GO) and functionalized graphene have been extensively studied for various applications including power devices, sensors, conductive materials, transistors, photovoltaic devices and biomedical applications [6,7]. Currently, graphene does not exist naturally, but it can be produced by chemical [8] or thermal reduction of GO pro- duced by a chemical treatment of graphite by different methods [9]. Graphene has a tendency to agglomerate in a polymer matrix due to intrinsic Van Der Waals bonds and its high specific surface area. The oxidation followed by a chemical ∗ Corresponding author:. E-mail addresses: meryem.goumri@gmail.com (M. Goumri), baitoul@yahoo.fr (M. Baitoul). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cjph.2016.12.012 0577-9073/© 2017 The Physical Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.