The electron irradiation effect on reduced graphene oxide paper

The reduced graphene oxide paper (rGOP) has been irradiated with different energy and dose, namely 200 keV and 1000 keV electron with dose ranging from 2×1014 cm-2 ∼ 2×1016 e/cm−2, using a ground-based irradiation simulator. The electrical properties, surface morphology, structural defects, interlayer spacing, thermal stability of rGOP before and after irradiation were systematically investigated. Results indicate that the electrical resistance and the ID/IG ratio increases pose irradiation, indicative of defect presence. The ratio of total carbon to total oxygen atoms (C/O) is 4.7 in pristine materials, with no obvious alteration in materials irradiated with 200 keV electron, while increased to 6.8 subjected to 1000 keV electrons. The 1000 keV electron irradiated material exhibits improved morphology from the SEM image. The above results were further verified by the change in the spacing of graphene layers in the material. FLUKA simulation results demonstrated that the 1000 keV electron can penetrate the rGOP, while is on the surface in 200 keV electron irradiated materials. Changes in resistance of rGOP are attributed to defects, structural disorder, oxygen-containing functional groups, and variations in the total C/O atom ratio. The results show that the structure and properties of rGOP can be influenced by irradiation energy and dose of electron.