Evaporation-induced self-assembling of few-layer graphene into a fractal-like conductive macro-network with a reduction of percolation threshold

Abstract

The transcription of nanoproperties to other dimensions in an efficient and simple way by the appropriate design of devices is a challenge, and conductive nanocarbon systems are considered here. The evaporation-induced self-assembling method is proposed to form branched, fractal-like “2D” conductive macrostructures from (nano) micro few-layer graphene flakes. The self-assembled conductive graphene networks reveal a reduction of percolation threshold compared to a random arrangement (a lower matter concentration is required to make a given substrate conductive and at a lower coverage), and become a promising matrix for conductive (transparent) films. The method is easy, cost-efficient and can potentially be applied on unlimited surfaces.