Direct fabrication of graphene/zinc oxide composite film and its characterizations

Graphene-based composites represent a new class of materials with potential for many applications. Graphene can be attached to a metal, a semiconductor, or any polymer for enhancing properties. In this work, a new mixed dispersion approach for graphene-based composite has taken on. Graphene flakes (<4 layers) and a well-known semiconductor zinc oxide (ZnO) (<50 nm particle size) have dispersed in N-methyl-pyrrolidone. We deposited graphene/ZnO composite thin film by a simple, low-cost, environmentally friendly and non-vacuum electrohydrodynamic atomization process on silicone substrate. Experiments have been carried out by changing flow rate and applied potential while keeping stand-off distance and substrate velocity constant, to discover the optimum conditions for obtaining a high-quality thin film. It has been explored that high-quality thin composite film is obtained at optimum flow rate of 300 μl/h at 6.3 kV applied potential after curing for 2 h at 300 °C. Graphene/ZnO thin composite film has been characterized using Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Ultra-violet Visible near Infra Red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy and 3D-Nanomap. For electrical behavior analysis, a simple diode Indium tin oxide/(poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/polydioctylfluorene-benzothiadiazole(F8BT)/(Graphene/ZnO) has fabricated. It is observed that at voltage of 0.3 V, the current in organic structure is at low value of 1.20 × 10^?3 Amp/cm² and after that as further voltage was applied, the device current increased by the order of 110 and reaches up to 1.32 × 10^?1 Amp/cm² at voltage 2 V.