Green synthesis of highly aligned reduced graphene oxide films with competitive performance assisted by sandwiching restriction

Green synthesis of reduced graphene oxide films (RGOFs) with high performance is one of prerequisites for graphene materials toward industrialization application. However, maintaining stabilized precursor graphene oxide films (GOFs) in green reducing solutions without disintegration or deformation is still a significant challenge. In this work, the mechanism of GOF deformation during a typical green reduction process in ascorbic acid solution was analyzed. Based on the findings, a method for restraining the disintegration and deformation during the reduction process by sandwiching GOF between two perforated Teflon release films was proposed. Such a sandwiching restriction technique enabled one to overcome the bubbles effect effectively, thus obtaining the highly aligned layered structure of RGOFs after the reduction. The investigation of the mechanical and electrical properties indicated that the obtained RGOF possessed a competitive performance (the tensile strength of 30.2 MPa and the electrical conductivity of 3125 S·m⁻¹). This demonstrates a straightforward way of fabricating highly aligned RGOFs for graphene industrialization.