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Reduced graphene oxide with a highly restored π-conjugated structure for inkjet printing and its use in all-carbon transistors

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Abstract

An inkjet-printed graphene film is of great importance for next-generation flexible, low cost and high performance electronic devices. However, due to the limitation of the inkjet printing process, the electrical conductivity of inkjet-printed graphene films is limited to ∼10 S·cm−1, and achieving a high conductivity of the printed graphene films remains a big challenge. Here, we develop a “weak oxidation-vigorous exfoliation” strategy to tailor graphene oxide (GO) for meeting all the requirements of highly conductive inkjet-printed graphene films, including a more intact carbon plane and suitable size. The π-conjugated structure of the resulting graphene has been restored to a high degree, and its printed films show an ultrahigh conductivity of ∼420 S·cm−1, which is tens of times higher than previously reported results, suggesting that, aside from developing a highly efficient reduction method, tuning the GO structure could be an alternative way to produce high quality graphene sheets. Using inkjet-printed graphene patterns as source/drain/gate electrodes, and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as channels, we fabricated an all-carbon field effect transistor which shows excellent performance (an on/off ratio of ∼104 and a mobility of ∼8 cm2·V−1·s−1) compared to previously reported CNT-based transistors, promising the use of nanocarbon materials, graphene and SWCNTs in printed electronics, especially where high performance and flexibility are needed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Yang Su, Jinhong Du, Dongming Sun, Chang Liu & Huiming Cheng

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  1. Yang Su
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  2. Jinhong Du
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  3. Dongming Sun
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  4. Chang Liu
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  5. Huiming Cheng
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Correspondence to Huiming Cheng.

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These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Su, Y., Du, J., Sun, D. et al. Reduced graphene oxide with a highly restored π-conjugated structure for inkjet printing and its use in all-carbon transistors. Nano Res. 6, 842–852 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0362-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0362-2

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