Conduction mechanism in hot-pressed Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Graphene Oxide composites

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Graphene Oxide (PVDF/GO) composites were prepared by solvent casting and processed by hot pressing. Filler GO is synthesized by the improved Hummers method and purified by centrifuging. GO is characterized by XRD, FTIR, RAMAN, SEM, and TEM. XRD, FTIR, and DSC techniques were employed to characterize composites. AC conductivity data of PVDF and PVDF/GO composites with varying GO content were fitted with Jonscher's power law at different temperatures, and the obtained DC conductivity was used to find the activation energy of the samples. The frequency exponent in power law is analyzed to identify the conduction mechanism in the composites. The frequency and temperature dependence of the exponent value and the nature of the frequency exponent with temperature confirm the overlapping large polaron tunneling as the responsible mechanism of conduction in PVDF/GO composites.

Automated summary

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Graphene Oxide (PVDF/GO) composites were prepared using solvent casting and hot pressing. The synthesized and purified GO was characterized using various techniques. XRD, FTIR, and DSC techniques were employed to characterize the composites. The conduction mechanism in the PVDF/GO composites was identified as overlapping large polaron tunneling.