Ultrahigh photothermal temperature in a graphene/conducting polymer system enables contact thermochemical reaction

Abstract

Photothermal conversion in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, wherein light energy is converted into heat energy, has attracted great interest and developed rapidly in recent years for its wide applications in health care, flexible electronics, energy and environmental fields. However, the photothermal temperature, as one of the most important parameters in the NIR photothermal conversion, still has not been effectively studied. Herein, we successfully achieved ultrahigh photothermal temperatures in a graphene/conducting polymer system. The surface temperature of the prepared free-standing reduced graphene oxide/polypyrrole (rGO/PPy) foam can be as high as 380 °C with 808 nm NIR irradiation at 2.6 W cm⁻², and the surface temperature of the rGO/PPy film on the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate can be as high as 310 °C under the same conditions. The photothermal energy has been used for burning, thermopolymerization, alloying reactions and thermal decomposition reactions, providing new directions for photothermal conversion beyond photothermal therapy and energy utilization.