Electromechanical properties of reduced graphene oxide thin film on 3D elastomeric substrate

Yue Yang Yu, Xue Jun Bai, Mayfair C. Kung, Yeguang Xue, Yonggang Huang, Denis T. Keane, Harold H. Kung*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electrically conducting, 3D elastomeric composite foams are fabricated successfully using multiple cycles of infusing polyurethane foams with graphene oxide sheets followed by reduction, to form coatings of reduced graphene oxide up to ∼1260 nm thick. The reduced graphene oxide coating increases the compression modulus of the composite and lowers the electrical resistance significantly compared with polyurethane foam, the extents of which increase with increasing coating thickness. The electrical resistance of the coated foams varies by as much as three orders of magnitude for coating thickness between ∼150 and ∼1200 nm, whereas the capacitance varies by one order of magnitude. Both the stress-strain and the resistance-strain behavior are highly repeatable with compression cycles performed up to 70% strain. Both SEM and X-ray tomography characterization show that deformation is mostly through bending of the pore walls up to about 20% strain, collapse of pore openings to about 60% strain, and densification beyond that. Micro-fractures also develop on the coating during the first few cycles of compression, but no obvious structural changes can be detected afterwards.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)380-387
Number of pages8
JournalCarbon
Volume115
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2017

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Northwestern University, which is supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF Award Number DMR-1121262, by Northwestern University through the McCormick Catalyst Award and ISEN. Xuejun Bai was supported by a fellowship from the Chinese Scholarship Council. Assistance from the research group of Prof. Samuel Stupp of Northwestern University for the capacitance and EIS tests was acknowledged. We also thank Garrett Chinyu Lau (NU), Dr. Yuanlong Shao (Donghua University), and Dr. Mark E Seniw (CLaMMP Facility, NU) for helpful discussions. Y.H. acknowledges the support from the NSF (Grant No. DMR1121262, CMMI1300846, CMMI1400169 and CMMI1534120) and the NIH (Grant No. R01EB019337). Y.X. gratefully acknowledges support from the Ryan Fellowship and the Northwestern University International Institute for Nanotechnology.

Keywords

  • Capacitance
  • Composite
  • Conducting elastomer
  • Polyurethane
  • Reduced graphene oxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science

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