Electrochemical characterization of reduced graphene oxide-coated polyester fabrics

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) coated fabrics were obtained by chemical reduction of GO on polyester (PES) fabrics. Conducting fabrics that have different applications were obtained by applying several layers of RGO. Electrochemical techniques not traditionally used for the characterization of these materials were used to test their electrical and electrochemical properties. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to measure the electrical properties. The resistance of the original PES was more than 10(11) Omega cm(2), but when coated with three RGO layers, the resistance decreased to 23.15 Omega cm(2). Phase angles changed from 90 degrees for PES and PES-GO (capacitative behavior) to 0 degrees for all the RGO coated samples (resistive behavior). Electro-activity was measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and scanning electrochemical microscopy. An increase in electro-activity was observed when the inactive GO was reduced to RGO. With CV an increase of electro-activity was observed with an increasing number of RGO layers. The contact between the different RGO sheets is responsible for the electric conduction in the fabrics. The techniques used showed that with only one RGO coating, the contact between the RGO sheets is not good and more coatings were needed to assure good electrical and electrochemical properties. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.