Facile synthesis of well-dispersed graphene by γ-ray induced reduction of graphene oxide

We demonstrate a facile and environmentally friendly approach to prepare well-dispersed graphene sheets by gamma-ray induced reduction of a graphene oxide (GO) suspension in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) at room temperature. GO is reduced by the electrons generated from the radiolysis of DMF under gamma-ray irradiation. The reduced GO by gamma-ray irradiation (G-RGO) can be re-dispersed in many organic solvents, and the resulting suspensions are stable for two weeks due to the stabilization of N(CH3)(2)(+) groups on G-RGO. Additionally, G-RGO is efficient in improving the conductivity of polystyrene (PS). Its PS nanocomposites exhibit a sharp transition from electrically insulating to conducting with a low percolation threshold of 0.24 vol% and a high electrical conductivity of 45 S m(-1) is obtained with only 2.3 vol% of G-RGO. The superior electrical conductivity is attributed to the uniform dispersion of the G-RGO sheets in the PS matrix.