Preparation of monodisperse reduced graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile composite and its thermal-induced structural transformation

The polyacrylonitrile/reduced graphene oxide (PAN/r-GO) composite was fabricated through dispersion of GO in PAN/DMSO solution, evaporation of DMSO to form PAN/GO film, and chemical reduction of the film by l-ascorbic acid (l-AA) aqueous. The optical and SEM images showed that the r-GO was monodisperse in the film. The UV–vis and FTIR spectrum of PAN/GO and PAN/r-GO confirmed the reduction of GO and the stability of PAN in l-AA aqueous. During the thermal stabilization of PAN/r-GO, r-GO restrained the cyclization and dehydrogenation reaction of PAN, but facilitated the formation of large conjugated structure. The r-GO plane also acted as a template for the growth of pseudo-graphite sheet, which is contributory to form large size pseudo-graphite microcrystal containing relatively less defects during carbonization. •The reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) sheets were monodisperse in the polymer matrix.•Graphene oxide (GO) was reduced without damage to polyacrylonitrile matrix.•The template effect of r-GO for the carbonization of polyacrylonitrile was proposed.