Proton conduction through oxygen functionalized few-layer graphene

Abstract

The first report of oxygen functionalized few-layer graphene (OFG) having an interlayer distance of 3.6 Å as an excellent proton conductor (8.7 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C, 95% RH) utilizing hydrophilic oxygen functionalities present at sheet edges bypassing the theoretical limitation of proton conduction through a basal plane. The synthesized OFG also exhibited excellent supercapacitor performance (296 F g⁻¹).