Functionalized Graphene Tagged Polyurethanes for Corrosion Inhibitor and Sustained Drug Delivery

Surface functionalization of graphene oxide with sulfonate group and subsequent grafting with polyurethane chains leads to the significant improvement in the properties of polymer and modified graphene as a filler. Modification of graphene oxide is revealed through spectroscopy while grafting of polymer chain over sulfonated graphene is confirmed through ¹H NMR and other techniques. Higher order of self-assembly phenomena is observed in nanohybrids as compared to pure polymer through greater interaction between polymer chain and sulfonated graphene. Significant improvement in corrosion inhibition phenomena is observed using nanohybrids at low concentration as compared to pure polymer indicating its superior efficiency as a corrosion inhibitor. Nanohybrids also exhibit better biocompatible nature in lower concentration of filler with considerable sustained release of drug vis-à-vis pure polymer suggest its potential to use as a biomaterial for tissue engineering applications.