Direct laser scribed graphene/PVDF-HFP composite electrodes with improved mechanical water wear and their electrochemistry

Abstract

As a recent addition to carbon nanomaterials, graphene has been widely investigated in sensing and energy applications due of its specific two-dimensional nanostructure and attractive intrinsic properties. Laser scribing of graphite oxide (GO) is a facile and cost-effective technology for fabricating patterned reduced graphene oxide electronics in a single-step. However, if the laser scribing does not occur through all of the layers of the graphite oxide, the existence of water-soluble graphite oxide underneath the laser scribed graphene (LSG) may result in an unexpected low-stability of the produced electronic elements in aqueous media. This study investigates the electrochemical performance and mechanical stability of LSG films that contained various amounts of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) as a binder, blended into the GO dispersion. The laser scribed composite graphene electrodes not only showed improved water mechanical wear resistance, but were largely unaffected in terms of electrochemical behaviour when compared with the binder-free LSG. The findings are significant in terms of the development of robust bioelectronics, to be employed in aqueous environments, based on the simple methodology of laser scribing of GO.