Wet-spun graphene filaments: effect of temperature of coagulation bath and type of reducing agents on mechanical & electrical properties

Abstract

Although many factors are considered to improve the properties of graphene filaments, there is no report in the existing literature on the effect of the temperature of the coagulation bath to the mechanical properties of graphene oxide filaments obtained in the wet-spinning process and also to the mechanical and electrical properties of the resulting graphene filaments after reduction. In this study, the effect of the temperature of the isopropanol coagulation bath during wet-spinning of graphene filaments on their final properties after formation was investigated and it was found that the decrease of the coagulation bath temperature resulted in more compact filaments having better mechanical properties for both graphene oxide and corresponding reduced graphene filaments. The best tensile strength and Young's modulus values were obtained in isopropanol coagulation bath which was kept at 15 °C. On the other hand, the types of the chemical reduction agents which can provide better electrical conductivity to graphene filaments after reduction were also investigated and it was determined that the use of hydriodic acid/acetic acid mixture resulted in graphene filaments having the best electrical conductivity (1.28 × 10⁴ S m⁻¹) and also tensile strength (234 ± 26 MPa) values. The addition of acetic acid into hydriodic acid increased the tensile strength 26% when compared with the plain HI treatment. Both electrical conductivity and tensile strength results were higher than most of the previously reported values of the wet-spun neat graphene filaments in the literature.