Graphene-based inks for flexible electronics: Effect of surfactant and various types of solvents

Abstract

The promising and extraordinary properties of graphene has attracted significant interest from many researchers especially in various electronic applications. The main aim of this work is to develop graphene-based ink with excellent stability and electrical properties for flexible electronics. Graphene foam (GF) was synthesised by using solvothermal method. GF exhibited multi layers of graphene, good in-plane crystallite quality, a low carbon impurity and relatively low sodium carbonate content. GF was further dispersed into various types of solvents. Results showed that GF dispersed in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMF) and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) exhibited good stability. However, these solvents suffer from highly toxic which may damage fertility or the unborn child (hazard code = H360). Besides that, GF dispersed in distilled water with an addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a surfactant presented good stability as compared to GF ink without surfactant and can be further used as the conductive ink for printable electronics.