Facile Fabrication of Conductive Paper-based Materials from Tunicate Cellulose Nanocrystals and Polydopamine-decorated Graphene Oxide

keywords:conductive paper  tunicate cellulose nanocrystal  graphene oxide  polydopamine coating  casting paper

Abstract:Conductive papers made from graphene and its derivatives are important for the development of electronic devices; however, elastomer-based matrices usually make it difficult for the conductive sheets to form continuous conductive networks. In this work, we used tunicate-derived cellulose nanocrystals (TCNC) instead of traditional elastomers as the matrix for polydopamine (PDA)-coated and reduced graphene oxide (GO) to prepare conductive paper, which, at a low concentration, were better for the formation of conductive networks from conductive sheets. It was found that the Young’s modulus of the conductive paper produced via this strategy reached as high as 7 GPa. Meanwhile, owing to the partial reduction of GO during the polymerization of dopamine, the conductivity of the conductive paper reached as high as 1.3×105 S/cm when the PDA-coated GO content was 1 wt%, which was much higher than the conductivity of pure GO (~4.60×108 S/cm). This work provides a new strategy for preparing environmentally friendly conductive papers with good mechanical properties and low conductive filler content, which may be used to produce high-performance, low-cost electronic devices.