Influence of graphene oxide synthesis methods on the electrical conductivity of cotton/graphene oxide composites

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of two synthesis methods on the physicochemical properties of graphene oxide (GO) and analyzes the improvement in electrical conductivity of GO-coated cotton. Graphene oxide was obtained by electrochemical exfoliation (EC-GO) and conventional Hummers’ method (H-GO); the product of the latter was chemically (CH-GO) and thermally reduced (TH-GO). TH-GO and EC-GO exhibited a more reduced structure and were selected to further assess their morphology and estimate their defects. The D/G ratio of EC-GO (0.61) was lower than that of TH-GO (2.1). EC-GO (2 D/G = 1.41) and TH-GO (2 D/G = 0.17) presented bilayer and few-layer structures of GO, respectively. Both materials were used to develop cotton/graphene oxide composites. The physico-chemical properties of the composites were evaluated, and SEM and FTIR confirmed the presence of GO on the cotton fibers. The electrical resistance and thermal stability of EC-GO/cotton were lower than those of TH-GO/cotton, which suggests that the GO synthesis method influences these two properties.

KEYWORDS:

• Graphene oxide
• Hummers’ method
• electrochemical exfoliation
• textile composite
• conductive cotton

Acknowledgments

We thank Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. (ITM) for the financial support that made this study possible through Project No. P17219.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.