In this study, we have proposed a rather simple approach to achieving graphene oxide/polyimide (GO/PI) composite films using pre-in situ polymerization. The mechanical, electrical, and carbonization properties of the films were significantly enhanced in the presence of GO. With an addition of 1.0 wt% GO, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus were dramatically increased by 103 and 230% respectively when compared with pure PI film. Besides that, composite films show excellent electrical insulative. Especially, the GO/PI film with 1.0 wt% of GO possesses a high carbonization yield about 64.2% (1000 °C). According to the excellent performance, this approach is believed to afford broad application potential in GO–polymer composite materials.

Nowadays, dielectric materials with excellent mechanical and hydrophobic properties are desired for use in the integrated circuits (ICs). For this reason, low dielectric constant fluorographene/polyimide (FG/PI) composite films were prepared by a facile solution blending method, suggesting that the mechanical, electrical, hydrophobic and thermal properties were significantly enhanced in the presence of FG. With addition of 1 wt% FG, the tensile strength, Young’s modulus and elongation at break were dramatically increased by 139%, 33% and 18% respectively when compared with pure PI film. Furthermore, composite films exhibit superior hydrophobic and thermal stability performance. Especially, the FG/PI film with 0.5 wt% of FG possessing a low dielectric constant of 2.48 and a good electrical insulativity that is lower than 10−14 S m−1. Therefore, by their excellent performance, FG/PI hybrid films represent suitable candidate solutions with applications in the microelectronics and aerospace industries.

•3D HGAs were prepared by a “fishing” process.•Their porous morphologies were varied by changing of PS particles.•HGAs are used as adsorbents for removal of oils and organic solvents.•They exhibit highly improved adsorption and recycled capacity.This article demonstrates the fabrication of 3D hierarchical porous graphene aerogels (HGAs) with tunable porous architecture by a “fishing” process with polystyrene (PS) particles as sacrificial templates. Structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The 3D HGAs exhibits low density, super hydrophobicity, high porosity and good thermal stability, which were used as adsorbents for removal of oils and organic solvents, showing highly efficient adsorption. In addition, they could be regenerated by heat treatment to release the adsorbates. After eight toluene-adsorbing and drying recycles, the adsorption capacity of HGAs reaches 93% of the initial uptake.