3D printing inks of rGO/Fe3O4@Polyacrylonitrile as organic semiconductors

Abstract

3D printing inks of rGO/Fe3O4@Polyacrylonitrile nanosheets were investigated as prominent organic semiconductors. Characterization of the nanosheet components of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), graphene oxide (GO), magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, and the rGO/Fe3O4@PAN nanocomposite were achieved using spectroscopic 1H NMR, and ATR-FTIR techniques for their chemical structure. The nanosheet’s thermal stability and crystal structure were also investigated using thermal TGA, DTG and XRD techniques, and the surface topology using microscopic SEM and AFM techniques. Two different methods for formation of nanocomposite namely annealing and microwave-assisted methods were thoroughly investigated. The extent of stabilization (Es) for annealing method was 2.60. However, for microwave-assisted method the Es value was 11.70. Apparently, the use of hydrazine crosslinker in the microwave-assisted method had a quadruple effect in gaining much higher σdc/σop values. The single-step, very-short time curing process (1 min), and the high σdc/σop values (0.0022–0.0038) for microwave-assisted rGO/Fe3O4@Polyacrylonitrile can clearly adapt this nanocomposite to be used in organic semiconductor technology. On the other hand, for annealing nanocomposites, long, multi-step, and a time consuming process (∼4 h) were obtained but showed bandgap energy (Eg) of ∼3.0 eV, which clearly confirm π–conjugated nanocomposite structure with wide bandgap semiconductor properties. The very short time of gelation (∼20 s) for the microwave-assisted nanocomposite can be utilized as 3D printing ink to make flexible electronics chips.