Good electrical and mechanical properties induced by the multilayer graphene oxide sheets incorporated to amorphous carbon films

Multilayer graphene oxide nanosheets were fabricated using commercially available expanded graphite by simple ultrasonic treatment and then were incorporated into the amorphous carbon matrix as fillers by electrochemical deposition. The electrical conductivity of the films was strongly improved due to the contribution of the multilayer graphene oxide sheets. Moreover, the Young's modulus, hardness and elastic recovery of the composite films were measured to be about 171.1 GPa, 10.1 GPa and 81.4%, respectively, compared to 137.4 GPa, 5.1 GPa and 44.3% of undoped a-C:H films prepared at the same conditions. Additionally, the friction coefficient was tested to be 0.15 (0.5 N, 2 Hz) and the antiwear life was prolonged to about 200 s while the undoped DLC films obtained at the same condition were easy to be frazzled. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.