Sodium-Ion Intercalated Transparent Conductors with Printed Reduced Graphene Oxide Networks

In this work, we report for the first time that Na-ion intercalation of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) can significantly improve its printed network's performance as a transparent conductor. Unlike pristine graphene that inhibits Na-ion intercalation, the larger layer-layer distance of RGO allows Na-ion intercalation, leading to simultaneously much higher DC conductivity and higher optical transmittance. The typical increase of transmittance from 36% to 79% and decrease of sheet resistance from 83k to 311 Ohms/sq in the printed network was observed after Na-ion intercalation. Compared with Li-intercalated graphene, Na-ion intercalated RGO shows much better environmental stability, which is likely due to the self-terminating oxidation of Na ions on the RGO edges. This study demonstrated the great potential of metal-ion intercalation to improve the performance of printed RGO network for transparent conductor applications.