Spray pyrolysis of graphene oxide based composite for optical and wettability applications

Abstract

In this study, silica-graphene oxide nano-composites were prepared by sol-gel technique and deposited by spray pyrolysis method on glass substrate. The effect of changing the graphene/silica ratio on the optical properties and wetting of these nano-structures has been investigated. The structural and morphological properties of the thin films have been studied by x-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). XRD results show that silica structures present in the synthesized films exhibit amorphous character and there is a poor arrangement in graphene plates along their accumulation directions. The relationship between the contact angle of the water drop and the surface of thin films was analyzed by surface roughness. The results show that the contact angle is also decreased by decreasing the surface roughness. Absorption and transmittance spectra obtained from (UV-vis) of the studied films were used to compute and determine some optical parameters such as absorption coefficient, transmittance rate, optical gap, refractive index and extinction coefficient of the films. The calculated optical band gaps of films decrease by increase the silica contents in these structures.