Highly electrically conductive rGO/PVA composites with a network dispersive nanostructure

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites were prepared and thoroughly characterized. Through a convenient effective method, uniformly dispersed reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/PVA composites could be obtained by swelling the PVA matrix with a reductant solution. The electrical conductivity of the composite increases with increasing rGO content, while there is a sharp increase for the rGO content beyond 10 wt%. Such an increase was evidenced by the formation of an rGO network so as to diminish the electrical resistance by the interconnection structure of rGO. In our studies, the conductivity of the rGO/PVA film increases from 6.04 × 10⁻³ S m⁻¹ to 5.92 S m⁻¹ as the rGO content increases from 4 wt% to 14 wt%.