Influence of graphene oxide synthesis methods on the electrical conductivity of cotton/graphene oxide composites

This paper examines the effect of two synthesis methods on the physicochemical properties of graphene oxide (GO) and analyzes the improvement in electrical conductivity of GO-coated cotton. Graphene oxide was obtained by electrochemical exfoliation (EC-GO) and conventional Hummers' method (H-GO); the product of the latter was chemically (CH-GO) and thermally reduced (TH-GO). TH-GO and EC-GO exhibited a more reduced structure and were selected to further assess their morphology and estimate their defects. The D/G ratio of EC-GO (0.61) was lower than that of TH-GO (2.1). EC-GO (2 D/G = 1.41) and TH-GO (2 D/G = 0.17) presented bilayer and few-layer structures of GO, respectively. Both materials were used to develop cotton/graphene oxide composites. The physico-chemical properties of the composites were evaluated, and SEM and FTIR confirmed the presence of GO on the cotton fibers. The electrical resistance and thermal stability of EC-GO/cotton were lower than those of TH-GO/cotton, which suggests that the GO synthesis method influences these two properties.