wide concentration liquid crystallinity of graphene oxide aqueous suspensions with interacting polymers

Abstract

The great dispersity of graphene oxide (GO) in water and ability to form liquid crystals (LC) have been highlighted for low cost and high throughput solution processes in GO-based applications. In these processes, colloidal stability of GO suspension determines the physical properties and performance of GO applications. For example, liquid-to-solid-like transition of GO suspension can hamper the process in GO-LC based applications, increasing the solution viscosity. Therefore, a deeper understanding towards GO-GO interactions as colloids is required to design high-performance GO applications. Here, we discuss the detailed microstructures and rheological properties of GO suspensions in the presence of polymer. Remarkable result was that adding polymer can effectively drop the viscosity of GO suspension, restraining the solid-like behavior. Using extensive SAXS and rheological measurements, we demonstrate that the addition of polymer can affect the stability of GO colloids significantly.