Enhanced optical limiting effects of graphene materials in polyimide

Three different graphene nanostructure suspensions of graphene oxide nanosheets (GONSs), graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONRs), and graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) are prepared and characterized. Using a typical two-step method, the GONSs, GONRs, and GOQDs are incorporated into a polyimide (PI) matrix to synthesize graphene/PI composite films, whose nonlinear optical (NLO) and optical limiting (OL) properties are investigated at 532 nm in the nanosecond regime. The GONR suspension exhibits superior NLO and OL effects compared with those of GONSs and GOQDs because of its stronger nonlinear scattering and excited-state absorption. The graphene/PI composite films exhibit NLO and OL performance superior to that of their corresponding suspensions, which is attributed primarily to a combination of nonlinear mechanisms, charge transfer between graphene materials and PI, and the matrix effect. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.