Self-assembled reduced graphene oxide/polyacrylamide conductive composite films

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Developing conductive thin films is crucial for various electronic applications.
• Graphene oxide (GO) offers promising properties but requires effective assembly methods.
• Cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) can serve as a substrate layer for GO self-assembly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a simple, effective, and green method for preparing substrate-supported conductive thin films.
• To investigate the self-assembly mechanism of graphene oxide (GO) on a cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) layer.
• To characterize the properties of the resulting reduced graphene oxide (R-GO)/CPAM composite films.

Main Methods:

• Self-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets onto a cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) layer.
• Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) to study CPAM adsorption and GO-CPAM electrostatic interactions.
• Chemical reduction of self-assembled GO/CPAM films using sodium borohydride.
• Characterization using Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy.

Main Results:

• CPAM adsorption stabilization on the substrate was achieved in under 150 seconds.
• Optimal conditions for GO/CPAM self-assembly were determined by analyzing electrostatic interactions.
• Reduced GO (R-GO)/CPAM composite films with a sheet resistance of 3.1 kΩ/sq were successfully prepared.
• The method demonstrated a simple, highly effective, and green route for conductive film fabrication.

Conclusions:

• The electrostatic interaction between negatively charged GO and positively charged CPAM facilitates efficient self-assembly.
• The developed method provides a facile and environmentally friendly approach to produce conductive graphene-based composite films.
• The resulting R-GO/CPAM films show potential for applications requiring conductive thin films.