Transparent conductive film of polyvinyl alcohol: reduced graphene oxide composite

The interest in the research for transparent conductive materials has intensified the last years due to the fascinating optical and electrical properties of graphene and its derivatives. Several efforts have shown that the substitution of indium doped tin oxide with graphene derivatives or hybrids will be possible in the near future. However, up to now, a simple and effective method to prepare competitive transparent conductive films (TCFs) based on graphene has not yet been established. In this article, we present a new procedure, which combines simple, economic and scalable steps to provide TCFs with high quality, uniformity, and stability. Our method is based on the deposition by drop casting, of a mixture of graphene oxide (GO) with polyvinyl alcohol on a glass substrate, the reduction of GO with vapors of triethylenetetramine and the doping with nitric acid. The achieved conductivity of the as prepared TCFs is comparable with those of others from the literature, however, our method has the advantages of the simplicity, low cost and scalability, and stability.

Automated summary

Interest in transparent conductive materials, particularly graphene and its derivatives, has grown in recent years due to their unique optical and electrical properties. While previous studies have explored replacing indium doped tin oxide with graphene derivatives, a simple and effective method for producing competitive transparent conductive films (TCFs) using graphene has not yet been established. This article introduces a new procedure for fabricating TCFs with high quality, uniformity, and stability, utilizing a combination of drop casting, reduction with triethylenetetramine vapors, and doping with nitric acid. The resulting TCFs exhibit comparable conductivity to existing literature, but with the advantages of simplicity, low cost, scalability, and stability.