Quantifying interflake ordering in graphene oxide films via wide-angle X-ray scattering analysis

We report a methodology based on wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) to quantify the ordering between graphene oxide (GO) flakes in self-assembled films. By comparing WAXS signals of GO and graphite, we extract orientation distribution coefficients (S) from the GO 001 and (100) scattering features. To characterize the anisotropy in flake alignment, we define a ratio parameter (R) as the quotient of orientation distribution coefficients obtained under orthogonal orientations from the normal direction of the GO film with respect to the X-ray beam. This dimensionless ratio allows us to assess the degree of meso-structural anisotropy and condenses comparative orientation information into a single dimensionless metric, providing a new structural parameter for GO and related layered materials. In our measurements, R reached values of 0.11 for the GO 001 signal. These results demonstrate a metric for characterizing anisotropy in disordered 2D materials.