Enhancement of Adhesion Force and Surface Conductivity of Graphene Oxide Films Using Different Solvents

Abstract

In this work, the nanotechnology procedure was utilized to improve both the adhesion force and surface properties of graphene oxide (GO) films. GO has been obtained in a powder form by oxidation purified graphite using the modified Hummer's technique. Different films of GO nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited using several types of solvents distilled water, acetone, ethanol, dimethyl formamide (DMF) or ethylene glycol. Examination of structural and optical properties of GO films were studied by XRD and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. Moreover, electrical properties, surface roughness, contact angle, adhesion force, wetting energy and spreading coefficient were investigated. It was observed that the properties of the prepared films are influenced by the solvent type. The electrical resistivity of films is highly dependent on the solvent type which exhibited the lowest value with distilled water. Furthermore, GO film synthesized with distilled water has the best values of adhesion force and average surface roughness (Ra) 143.4 mN/m and ∼ 7.83 μm, respectively. These results are mostly attributed to hydrophilic cites and GO NPs agglomeration in the surface of films and the effects of their size leading to an expansion in the surface roughness.