High resistivity free-standing crosslinked graphene oxide substrates: hopping conduction mechanism and application to recyclable electronics

Abstract Graphene oxide (GO) is an oxidized derivative of graphene that can be formed into free-standing wafers by aqueous processing methods. We propose GO as a potential alternative printed electronic substrate material to mitigate the waste electronic and electrical equipment problem. By dissolving these substrates in water, GO permits the mechanical separation and recovery of discrete components from defunct circuits, thus closing the life cycle of printed circuits. In this work we measure the anisotropic, frequency dependent resistivity of free-standing GO wafers under DC and AC ( f = 0.1 Hz–500 kHz) excitation and in varying relative humidity (RH) conditions. Unmodified GO and GO crosslinked with calcium ions, borate ions, and glutaraldehyde were characterized. AC resistivity measurements reveal charge transport in free-standing GO occurs by several distinct hopping conduction mechanisms that are sensitive to the crosslinking formulation. GO crosslinked with calcium ions exhibits the highest DC resistivity, 4.6 × 10 5 Ωm and 2.6 × 10 4 Ωm, for out-of-plane and in-plane directions, respectively, at 17% RH. Both AC and DC resistivities decrease with increasing RH. We demonstrate that GO wafers can be used as dielectric substrates in the construction of simple electronic circuits with discrete electronic components. Finally, we present a proof-of-concept for electrical trace and component recovery via disassembly of GO wafers in water.