Modification of C.I.Pigment Blue 15:6 with graphene oxide

Abstract

The ε-crystalline copper phthalocyanine is suitable for printing inks, coatings, and plastic colouring due to its strong red-blue tones, and high thermal and chemical stability. And it also shows good photoconductive properties. In this study, C.I. Pigment Blue 15:6 (P.B.15:6) was modified with monolayer graphene oxide (GO) to improve its colour performance. The modified pigments were used as carrier generating materials, and N,N,N′,N′-tetra(4-methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine as hole transport material to fabricate laser organic photoconductive (OPC) devices, and the photosensitivity was tested. The testes results showed that the modified pigment exhibited higher tinting strength (108%). Besides, the photoconductive properties of OPC devices prepared with modified P.B.15:6 at 650 nm and 780 nm lasers were superior to those of the unmodified P.B.15:6 devices. And when the GO modification amount was 3%, the device shows an outstanding initial surface potential (−650 V) and good photosensitivity (0.218 μJ/cm2). Strong interactions between GOc molecule and CuPc molecules have been shown by calculations based on density-functional theory, which facilitate the charge transfer from the GO to the CuPc010 surface.