Partic. vol. 17 pp. 66-73 (December 2014)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2014.02.005

Formation of uniform reduced graphene oxide films on modified PET substrates using drop-casting method

Chunlin Zhao^a, Li Xing^a, Junhui Xiang^a,*, Lijie Cui^b, Jianbin Jiao^c, Huazheng Sai^a, Zhenyou Li^a, Fei Li^a

xiangjh@ucas.ac.cn

Abstract

In this work, uniform reduced graphene oxide (RGO) films were formed on poly-(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates using a simple drop-casting method. We investigated four types of substrates: unmodified PET, polydopamine-coated PET, carboxyl-group-modified PET, and alkyl-group-modified PET. Upon water evaporation, the surface of the polydopamine-modified PET substrates can interact with the reduced graphene oxide sheets to form flattened and continuous RGO films, which exhibit a sheet resistance of 21.75 kΩ/sq at 82% transmittance. The result indicates that the properties of the surface groups determined whether uniform and flattened RGO films could be formed on the substrates. Hence, we proposed a simple and effective way to produce transparent and conductive films in which the catechol unit exhibits a great effect on the deposition of uniform RGO films on PET substrates.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Reduced graphene oxide; Modified PET substrates; Drop-casting; Polydopamine; Transparent conductive films