The mechanical properties of polystyrene composites were improved by designing large‐size 3D GO/CNTs hybrid aerogel reinforced by epoxy resin

Dispersion of carbon nanomaterials in polymers has long been a challenge. In this work, large‐scale epoxy‐reinforced GO/CNT aerogel (GECA) was prepared with stable three‐dimensional (3D) interconnected network as reinforced skeleton. The GECA/polystyrene (GECA/PS) nanocomposites were then fabricated by in‐situ polymerization of styrene in interconnected GECA. The results showed that the obtained GECA exhibited high compression modulus with no significant permanent deformation. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the prepared GECA/PS were significantly improved with a low filler content of 1.0 wt.%. when the ratio of GO and CNT to epoxy resin was 1:1, the tensile strength, flexural strength, compressive strength, and impact strength of the composites were the highest, at 17.51 MPa, 33.01 MPa, 110.28 MPa, and 4.169 KJ/m2, respectively, representing an increase of 113.0%, 76.1%, 147.5%, and 99.5%, respectively. In several different composites, the enhancement effect of large‐size 3D graphene oxide aerogel was significant, which was attributed to the fact that the 3D structure was not destroyed during the styrene filling process.