Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Electric-field Control of Electronic States in WS2 Nanodevices by Electrolyte Gating
Published on: April 12, 2018
Electric-Field-Tunable Conductivity in Graphene/Water and Graphene/Ice Systems
Peng Zhai1,2, Yuechen Wang1, Chang Liu1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 999077, Hong Kong.
Abstract:
This study demonstrates that the application of an external electrical potential to a phenyl-sulfonic functionalized graphene (SG)/water suspension distinctly enhances its electrical conductivity via the structural transition from isolated clusters to a 3D SG network. Microstructural and alternating current impedance spectroscopy studies indicate that the surface charge plays an important role in the state of dispersion and connectivity of the SG in the suspension due to the potential-dependent interactions with functional groups on the SG surface in the presence of an external electrical potential. In addition, the conductive SG/ice can be produced via liquid-solid phase transition of the SG/water suspension in the presence of an external electrical potential, which shows a one-order magnitude improvement in electrical conductivity compared with pure ice. The electric-field-tunable property advances the understanding of nanofluid systems and has many potential applications.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Electric Field at the Surface of a Conductor
In the 19th century, Michael Faraday conducted the famous ice pail experiment to prove that the charges always reside on the surface of a conductor. The experimental set-up consists of a conducting uncharged container mounted on an insulating stand. The outer surface of the container is...
Electric Field Inside a Conductor
Suppose a piece of metal is placed near a positive charge. The free electrons in the metal are attracted to the external positive charge and migrate freely toward that region. This region then...
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions in Dielectrics
Consider a case where both the mediums across a boundary are two different dielectric materials. Recall that the electric field and electric displacement are proportional and related through the material's permittivity....
Electric Field of Parallel Conducting Plates
Consider a cross-section of a thin, infinite conducting plate having a positive charge. For such a large thin plate, as the thickness of the plate tends to zero, the positive charges lie on the plate's two large faces. Without an external electric field, the...
Boundary Conditions for Current Density

