REDUCED GRAPHENE OXIDE BARRIER MATERIALS

Abstract

This invention relates to barrier materials comprising reduced graphene oxide, methods of making said materials and their uses. The reduced graphene oxide is preferably formed from the reduction of graphene oxide by HI, HBr or ascorbic acid.

Claims

1. A method of making a barrier material, the method comprising reducing a graphene oxide laminate membrane to form a reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane with a reducing agent, wherein the reducing agent does not generate CO.sub.2 or CO as a major component when it reduces graphene oxide.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of HI, HBr and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: (A) supporting the graphene oxide laminate membrane on a substrate; and (B) reducing the graphene oxide laminate membrane to form the reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane supported on the substrate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein step (A) further comprises depositing a graphene oxide suspension onto the substrate to form the graphene oxide laminate membrane supported on the substrate.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises, before the graphene oxide laminate membrane is supported on the substrate (step (A)), modifying the substrate to increase the strength of the association between the substrate and the graphene oxide and/or reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein modifying the substrate comprises coating the surface of the substrate with an adhesion promoter.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the substrate is a polymer substrate and the step of modifying the substrate comprises oxidising the surface of the substrate by exposing it to ozone and/or oxygen plasma to form an oxidised polymer substrate.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the polymer substrate is poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET).

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the substrate is a porous structure or material and the method is a method of reducing the porosity of a porous structure or material.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the reducing agent is ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the adhesion promoter is a polymer.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of phytic acid, PMMA, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), polystyrene, poly(4-styrenesulfonate), Nafion, carboxymethyl cellulose, chitosan, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and polyaniline.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the substrate is a metal substrate and the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of phytic acid, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the substrate is a glass or silicon-based substrate and the adhesion promoter is sodium metasilicate.

15. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: C) transferring the reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane from the first substrate to a second substrate.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of rinsing the reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane with a rinsing agent.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of drying the reduced graphene oxide laminate membrane after the reduction step.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of reducing the graphene oxide laminate membrane takes place at a temperature from about 5 C. to about 150 C.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of reducing the graphene oxide laminate membrane takes from about 0.5 minutes to about 120 hours.

20. A barrier material prepared according to the method of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0097] Embodiments of the invention are further described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0098] FIG. 1 shows water permeation through GO and rGO membranes. (A) Weight loss of a container enclosing water sealed with GO and different rGO membranes with a thickness of 500 nm. inset shows optical photographs of a HI acid-reduced GO. (B) Water permeability of GO and GO reduced with different techniques (arrow indicates the detection limit of the experiment). Star symbol is for water vapour permeability of a 40 nm metalized PET.

[0099] FIG. 2 shows water and gas permeation through rGO coated PET. (A) Examples of He-leak measurements for a bare 12 m thick PET and PET coated with a 30 min-thick HIreduced GO. Upper inset shows the dependence of the He-permeability on rGO thickness. Star symbol is for He permeation through a 50 nm thick ascorbic acid reduced GO coating. Lower inset shows the optical photograph of a 30 nm rGO coated PET with an optical transparency of 35%. Optical transparency of a 100 nm-thick rGO on PET is 7% and 200 nm-thick rGO is completely opaque. (B) Comparison of permeability of HI-rGO on PET with respect to bare PET for He, H.sub.2 and H.sub.2O (arrows indicate the detection limit of the experiment). Star symbol is for water vapour permeability of a 40 nm metalized PET.

[0100] FIG. 3 shows salt barrier properties of HI-rGO. (A) Cl.sup. ion permeation through a 1 m-thick GO membrane from the feed side with 1 M NaCl before and after reduction with HI acid. Upper Inset Optical photographs show the effect of HF acid drop testing on a 290 nm oxidised silicon substrate (1 cm>1 cm) coated with a 500 nm-thick GO and rGO, after removing the GO/RGO layer. White center region in the GO coated sample is due to the etching of SiO.sub.2 by HF acid. Bottom insetPhotograph of a 1 m-thick HI-RGO coated/lined glass petri dish. (B) X-ray diffraction for thermally reduced, HI acid and ascorbic acid reduced GO membranes.

[0101] FIG. 4 shows the optical transmittance for a 30 nm-thick HI-rGO on top of 12 m-thick PET with respect to bare PET. The inset shows an AFM image of the film near the boundary between bare PET and the rGO coating. Blue curveHeight profile along the gray line.

[0102] FIG. 5 shows a photograph demonstrating water permeation through a brick (20 cm long) with and without ascorbic acid-rGO coating. Brick without the graphitic coating rapidly absorbs water but it can stay on top of the ascorbic acid-rGO coated part for many hours.

[0103] FIG. 6 shows PVA-GO composites films exhibit barrier properties similar to those of GO laminates but with improved mechanical strength. A Weight loss for a container filled with water or other liquids and sealed with a 1 m-thick PVA-GO membrane before and after its reduction with HI acid. The measurements were carried out at room temperature in a glove box. The green curve shows water permeation after the reduction in HI; the other curves are for non-reduced PVA-GO. B X-ray diffraction for HI-reduced PVA-GO membrane.

[0104] FIG. 7 shows the effect of reduction conditions on the barrier properties of membranes obtained from ascorbic acid reduction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0105] A barrier material is a material which is substantially impermeable to gases and water vapour. The exact permeability at which a material becomes a barrier material depends on the specific application. Organic light emitting diodes and other electronic applications often require a material which is more impermeable than might be required in certain food packaging applications. As a rule of thumb, throughout this specification a barrier material is one having a water permeability below 10.sup.6 g/m.sup.2/day at 100% RH and room temperature. However, for certain less critical applications, a water permeability below 10.sup.5 g/m.sup.2 day at 100% RH and room temperature, or even a water permeability below 10.sup.4 g/m.sup.2/day at 100% RFI and room temperature, may be acceptable. These materials exhibit a relatively larger degree of transmission of gases and water vapour. In the particular applications concerned, this might be perfectly acceptable. The skilled person will be able to determine the appropriate level of impermeability for any particular application. The degree of permeability is permissible thus depends exactly the purpose that the barrier of the present invention is being used for. For example, in the case of barrier materials that might be used for nuclear applications a very low level of permeability, for example, a water permeability below 10.sup.5 g/m2/day at 100% RH and room temperature may be more appropriate whereas in food packaging applications for less sensitive foodstuffs a much lower level of impermeability. i.e., a higher permeability such as a water permeability below 10.sup.4 g/m.sub.2/day at 100% RH and room temperature

[0106] Atomic percentage is defined as the number of atoms in element in 100 atoms representative of the substance. Mathematically, the atomic percent is

atomic percent (1)=.sub.N.sub.tot .sup.N.sub.t100%

where N.sub.i are the number of atoms of interest and N.sub.tot are the total number of atoms. The atomic % therefore can be represented as 100 * number of atoms of one component/total number of all atoms in sample, which is the same as 100 * number of moles of one component/number of moles of all components.

[0107] Reduced graphene oxide is graphene oxide which has been reduced. It is not pristine graphene as it retains some oxygen content. It is substantially less oxygenated than graphene oxide.

[0108] The present invention involves the use of reduced graphene oxide membranes which may be formed from graphene oxide membranes. The reduced graphene oxide membranes and graphene oxide membranes are laminate membranes. They comprise stacks of individual graphene oxide flakes, in which the flakes are predominantly monolayer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide respectively. Although the flakes are predominantly monolayer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide respectively, it is within the scope of this invention that some of the reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide is present as two- or few-layer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide. Thus, it may be that at least 75% by weight of the reduced. graphene oxide or graphene oxide is in the form of monolayer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide flakes, or it may be that at least 85% by weight of the reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide is in the form of monolayer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide flakes (e.g., at least 95%, for example, at least 99% by weight of the reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide is in the form of monolayer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide flakes) with the remainder made up of two- or few- layer reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide.

[0109] The graphene oxide for use in this application can be made by any means known in the art. In a preferred method, graphite oxide can be prepared from graphite flakes e.g., natural graphite flakes) by treating them with potassium permanganate and sodium nitrate in concentrated sulphuric acid. This method is called Hummers method. Another method is the Brodie method, which involves adding potassium chlorate (KClO.sub.3) to a slurry of graphite in fuming nitric acid. For a review see Dreyer et al. The chemistry of graphene oxide, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2010, 39, 228-240.

[0110] Individual graphene oxide (GO) sheets can then be exfoliated by dissolving graphite oxide in water or other polar solvents with the help of ultrasound, and bulk residues can then be removed by centrifugation and optionally a dialysis step to remove additional salts. Thus, exfoliation of graphite oxide in water into individual graphene oxide can be achieved by the sonication technique followed by centrifugation at 10000 rpm to remove few layers and thick flakes. Graphene oxide membranes can be formed by restacking of these single layer graphene oxides by a number of different techniques such as spin coating, spray coating, rod coating and vacuum filtration.

[0111] Graphene oxide was prepared by Hummers method and that was dispersed in water by sonication to make stable dispersions of graphene oxide in water. Mainly two types of samples were used for the experiments: free standing membranes and GO or rGO coated substrates, such as 12 m PET, 25-100 m metal foils and 290 nm oxidised silicon wafers. For fabricating free standing membranes, GO dispersions were vacuum filtered to obtain free standing (X) membranes with thickness ranging from 500 nm to 5 m. GO coating on different substrates were fabricated by rod-coating technique. GO membranes and GO coatings were reduced mainly by thermal and chemical routes. Thermal reduction was carried out at 300 C. for four hours in 10% hydrogen/argon gas mixture and chemical reductions were carried out using previously reported HI acid and ascorbic acid reduction methods Pei., S., Zhao, J., Du, J., Ren, W. & Cheng, H.-M. Direct reduction of graphene oxide films into highly conductive and flexible graphene films by hydrohalic acids. Carbon 48, 4466-4474, 2010; Zhang, J. et al. Reduction of graphene oxide via L-ascorbic acid. Chem. Common. (Comb.) 46, 1112-1114, 2010; Moon, I. K., Lee, J., Ruoff, R. S. & Lee. H. Reduced graphene oxide by chemical graphitization. Nature Communications 1, 73, 2010; and Fernandez-Merino, M. J. et al, Vitamin C is an ideal substitute for hydrazine in the reduction of graphene oxide suspensions. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 114, 6426-6432, 2010).

[0112] HI reductions were carried out by exposing GO membranes or GO coatings to HI acid vapours at 90 C. for several minutes. The reduction time were varied from 0.5-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the membranes or coatings; this is to achieve the complete reduction of GO. After the reduction, the samples were rinsed with ethanol for several times to remove the residual HI acid and finally the samples were dried in air. For ascorbic acid reduction, the GO membranes or GO coatings were immersed into the ascorbic acid solution with a concentration of 30 mg/mL for 1 hour at 90 C. The samples were further rinsed with water and finally dried in air. Permeation properties of GO and rGO samples were measured. In brief, for vapour permeation, free standing membranes and rGO coated. PET were glued to a Cu foil with an opening of 1 cm in diameter and placed between two O-rings of a specially designed metal container. Vapour permeability was measured by monitoring the weight loss of the container filled with solvents or water with time by using a computer-controlled precision balance (Denver Instruments). For gas permeation measurements, standard vacuum components incorporated with the vacuum flanges to allow pumping, pressure gauges and controlled supply of gases were used. rGO coated PET were placed between two rubber gaskets and pressurised. (up to 1 Bar) from one side and monitored the gas leak on the other side by using mass spectrometry. Helium-leak detector INFICON UL200 was used which allowed detection of helium and hydrogen.

[0113] FIG. 1 A shows an example of the water vapour permeation through GO and rGO free-standing membranes with a thickness of 0.5 m. In agreement with previous reports, free standing GO membranes are completely impermeable to all gases but show unimpeded water vapour permeation. The same sample after annealing at 300 C. shows ten times less water vapour permeation but they are extremely fragile. Water vapour permeation of different thermally reduced samples at similar thermal reduction conditions varied widely (by a factor of <60%). Without wishing to be bound by theory, this variation could be explained by the different extent of structural defects present in the sample. In contrast, chemically reduced samples show consistent water permeation rates and are orders of magnitude lower than the thermally reduced GO membranes. HI acid-reduced GO exhibits the best barrier property towards water vapour and it was below the detection limit of <0.1 mg for several days; this gives an upper limit on water vapour permeation through HI acid-reduced GO membranes as 10.sup. .sup.11mg/cm.sup.2.s.bar, two orders of magnitude less than the currently commercially used metallised PET films. FIG. 1B compares the permeability values of GO and GO reduced with thermal and chemical techniques. Permeation experiments were also performed for other organic solvents, such as acetone, methanol, ethanol, propanol, etc., and found none (for clarity of the plots data is not included in FIG. 1).

[0114] To evaluate the permeation properties of ultra-thin chemically reduced GO coatings and to assess its application for barrier coating, the gas and vapour permeation properties of thin layers of rGO on PET was further investigated. FIG. 2 shows the permeation properties of thin layers of HI acid-reduced. GO on a 12 m PET. Thickness of rGO coating on PET was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and also by measuring the optical transmittance at 550 nm. To evaluate the gas (He and H.sub.2) barrier properties of these films, He-leak detector was used. He is found to be the best probe gas to study permeation properties of PET or any polymer films because of its small size and high diffusion coefficient over all other gases. The 12 m PET shows a He permeability of 10.sup.7 mm.cm.sup.3/cm.sup.2.s.bar, in agreement with literature values. He permeation through a 30 nm-thick rGO coated PET (see FIG. 2A, bottom inset) is more than two orders of magnitude lower than that of bare PET. FIG. 2A upper inset shows the thickness dependence of He permeation on rGO thickness and indicates that 200 nm rGO coating is enough to block the He completely, the permeation rate is at least 5 orders of magnitude less than the uncoated PET. Moisture barrier properties of these rGO coated PET were measured by gravimetric techniques and found that 30 nm rGO coating is enough to stop water vapour permeation completely. The experimental detection limit for water vapour permeation is shown in FIG. 2B. In comparison with 40 nm metallised (:Al) PET, water permeation through a 30 nm rGO coated PET is at least one order of magnitude smaller. Ascorbic acid reduced GO on PET was also tested, which did not show any considerable variation for He or water vapour permeation rate (see FIG. 2A, upper inset). This exceptional permeation property of rGO coated PET opens many possible applications in barrier coating, especially in packaging food and pharmaceutical packaging). It is also important to note that the adhesion between rGO and PET is strong enough to withstand many cycles of measurements and also mechanical scratching, stretching and folding.

[0115] Superior water and gas barrier behaviours of rGO membranes and coatings lead to further investigation of the salt permeation properties, which could be used in the anti-corrosion and chemical resistant coating or lining applications. The salt permeation properties of rGO membranes were measured as follows. Briefly, 1 M salt solution (NaCl) and water were filled in a U-shaped two-compartment container separated with a rGO membrane. Salt diffusion through the membranes was monitored by measuring the salt permeated to the pure water side by ion chromatography and gravimetric technique. FIG. 3 shows an example of Cl.sup. permeation through a reference GO and HI acid-reduced GO membrane with time. As reported previously, the GO membranes allow ultrafast permeation of salt while after reduction permeation of salt through the membrane was not detected. The detection limit for the salt permeation through rGO membrane is at least 1000 times less than through the pristine membranes. Salt permeation through ascorbic acid reduced GO was also measured, which showed no salt permeation. To explore the salt barrier property of these membranes towards various applications, especially for chemical protection and anticorrosion coatings, 290 nm Si/SiO.sub.2 substrate was coated with GO and RGO and then treated with hydrofluoric (HF) acid by dropping HF acid on top of the coating for few hours. HF is considered as the most corrosive and toxic acid. FIG. 3 inset shows the optical photographs of the substrates after the drop testing and removal of the protective coating. As evident from the figure. HF permeated through a 500 nm-thick GO and etched the 290 nm SiO.sub.2 layer completely, while the same thickness RGO completely blocked the permeation of HF. Further, drop testing of ascorbic acid-rGO coated metal foils (e.g., Cu and Ni) to nitric and sulphuric acid solutions with different concentrations (from 0.05 M to highly concentrated) was tested, which showed no degradation or etching of metal foils for at least 48 hours. Ascorbic acid-rGO coated Ni and steel plate was immersed in saturated iron chloride and sodium chloride solution for few clays, which showed no degradation for Ni and steel plates. These simple experiments show the potential of high-quality reduced GO for chemical protection and anticorrosion coatings or linings. FIG. 3A bottom inset shows an example of rGO lining. A glass Petri dish was successfully coated with 1 m GO by using spray coating and reduced with HI acid. The rGO lined Petri dish showed good chemical resistance to HF acid for many days. PVA/rGO membranes such as those described in Example 3 below have also been shown to be impermeable to HF.

[0116] Without wishing to be bound by theory, the observed barrier properties of high-quality reduced GO can be explained using the known mechanisms of reduction process and the structure of reduced GO. Molecular and ionic permeation in GO membranes mainly occurs through the interlayer capillary between GO sheets and the capillary width for pristine graphene oxide varies from 0.7 nm to 1.3 nm depending on the humidity or water content. After the chemical or thermal reduction this interlayer capillary collapses and the inter-layer distance reduces to 0.36001 nm (see FIG. 3B). This reduced interlayer spacing is not adequate for water or any other gases to permeate through the membranes. The quality of reduction can be easily judged form the X-ray diffraction peak for different rGO samples. FIG. 3B shows the diffraction peak for GO membranes reduced with thermal, VC and HI acid. The sharper X-ray peak of HI acid-reduced samples compared to other two shows higher degree of graphitization. Even though the degree of graphitization is slightly lower (broader X-ray peak) in ascorbic acid-rGO, it shows nearly the same permeation properties as that of HI-rGO membranes or coatings. The only difference between HI acid and ascorbic acid reduced GO is the water vapour permeation through free standing rGO membranes. Water permeation through ascorbic acid-rGO is one order of magnitude higher than the HI-rGO membranes. On the other hand, ultra-thin layers ascorbic acid and HI acid-reduced GO coating on PET shows similar properties. This could be due to the difficulty in the complete reduction of 500 nm-thick membrane with ascorbic acid compared to thin coatings. The observed remarkable difference in permeation properties of ascorbic acid reduced GO and thermally reduced GO indicates that, other than the degree of graphitization, the amount of atomic defects formed during the reduction process may be crucial for the permeation properties. During the thermal reduction, oxygen-containing functional groups decompose and release as CO and CO.sub.2 gases. The decomposition of oxygen-containing functional groups may also remove carbon atom from the graphene plane and result in distortion in graphene lattice. On the other hand, during the chemical reduction with ascorbic acid and HI acid, it is believed that the oxygen-containing functional groups chemically react with the reducing agents and mainly release oxygen as water molecule instead of carbon-containing gases. It may be that this results in less structural disorder and higher graphitization of chemically reduced GO. This can be seen from the very shiny and smooth surface of high-quality reduced GO.

[0117] In conclusion, high quality HI acid reduced GO membranes show perfect barrier properties towards different gases, salts and water vapours. These properties of high quality rGO can be useful in different practical applications such as O.sub.2 and moisture barrier coating for electronics, food and pharmaceutical packaging and chemical and corrosion protection applications. The scalability and solution processability of this technique is highly advantages for various applications. Even though HI acid-reduced GO shows the perfect barrier property, it might not be suitable for all applications. However, the ascorbic acid-reduced GO also shows nearly the same barrier properties as that of HI acid-reduced GO and may be suitable for applications in which the HI-reduced GO would not be suitable.

EXAMPLE 1

Optical and AFM Characterisation of HI-rGO on PET

[0118] To characterize rGO films on PET scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical absorption spectroscopy were used. FIG. 4 shows an absorption spectrum for a 30 nm-thick film of HI-RGO. For the visible spectrum, the transmittance varies from 30 to 40%. The thickness of rGO coatings was measured using a Veeco Dimension 3100 AFM in the tapping mode under ambient conditions. The inset of FIG. 4 shows a representative AFM image for a 30 nm-thick HI-rGO on PET.

EXAMPLE 2

rGO Coating on Rough and Porous Surfaces

[0119] To understand the effect of surface roughness and porosity on the barrier properties of our rGO films, GO was deposited onto various surfaces. Those included polymer materials, such as porous polycarbonate, polyvinylidene fluoride, polysulthne, etc., and extremely rough substrates, such as brick and concrete surfaces. GO laminates on all these substrates were reduced by treating them with an ascorbic acid solution at 80 C. for 2 hours or 50 C. for 24 hours. It was found that, although the barrier quality can be sensitive to roughness and porosity, GO laminates provide a high permeation barrier for all tested surfaces. As an example, FIG. 5 shows a photograph of a conventional red brick that is half coated with ascorbic acid-rGO. If water is poured on the brick, it stays only on the part covered with highly hydrophobic rGO. One can quantify the barrier properties of ascorbic acid-rGO by measuring the time required for disappearance of the water puddle (FIG. 5). The brick without any coating absorbs water within a few seconds. In contrast, water on top of the RGO coated part stays for many hours and eventually disappears mainly because of evaporation. Taking the evaporation into account, it is estimated that ascorbic acid-rGO treated bricks are 4000 times more water repellant than uncoated bricks.

EXAMPLE 3

Polyvinyl Alcohol Modified GO for Improved Adhesion

[0120] Adhesion between treated surfaces and rGO is critical for the perspective use of such films as chemical and anticorrosion coatings. Adhesion of rGO to plastic and glass surfaces has been found strong. Qualitatively, the graphitic films were as robust as the standard barrier films (40 nm Al on PET) but the wear properties require further studies and quantification. In contrast, adhesion of rGO to metal surfaces was weak, which resulted in easy scratching and partial peeling of the protective coating. To overcome the drawbacks of weak adhesion to metal surfaces, GO laminates were provided with interlayer cross-linking with PVA. For the purpose of this report, permeation properties of PVA-GO composite films were tested, both before and after their chemical reduction.

[0121] PVA-GO samples were prepared by blending water solutions of GO and PVA by using a magnetic stirrer. The concentrations were chosen such that 60-80 weight percentage of GO was achieved in the final laminates, after water evaporated. All the tested PVA-GO films exhibited similar properties, irrespective of their PVA fraction. Vacuum filtration, drop casting and rod coating techniques were used to produce free standing PVA-GO membranes and PVA-GO coated substrates. FIG. 6a shows examples of the permeation measurements for water and other organic vapors through a 1 um-thick PVA-GO membrane, before and after its reduction with HI. Similar to GO, PVA-GO membranes completely blocked all gases and vapors except for water. After reduction of PVA-GO with HI, the water permeation was reduced approximately by four orders of magnitude (FIG. 6).

[0122] Salt permeation properties of such cross-linked GO membranes was also studied and it was found that permeation rates are beyond the detection limit, too. Not only HI- but also ascorbic acid- reduced PVA-GO were tested and no major differences were observed. The inset of FIG. 6b shows an optical photograph of a steel plate coated with ascorbic acid reduced PVA-rGO. Such protecting coatings exhibit good adhesion to metal surfaces including copper, steel, nickel, etc. Copper foils coated with ascorbic acid-reduced PVA-GO were tested for acid corrosion. No signs of corrosion were detected in tests similar to those described in the main text and involving oxidized Si wafers protected with unmodified rGO (FIG. 3a).

[0123] FIG. 6h shows X-ray diffraction for HI-reduced PVA-rGO membranes. They exhibited a layered structure similar to HI-RGO but with an interlayer separation of 4.2 , that is, considerably larger than in the membranes without PVA (see FIG. 3h). This increase in the interlayer distance was attributed to the presence of PVA molecules between reduced GO sheets (intercalation-like composites). Although the interlayer distance increased, the presence of polymer molecules trapped between the graphene sheets effectively blocked all molecular and ionic permeation through the extra space of 0.6 in the composite membranes.

[0124] Membranes were also prepared using polyvinylpyrrolidinone and imidazole as cross linkers, respectively. The methods carried out were substantially the same as for the PVA crosslinked membranes. In the case of imidazole, GO was stirred with imidazole at 80 C. to get better cross-linking.

EXAMPLE 4

The Effect of Reduction Conditions on Ascorbic Acid Reduced GO

[0125] To study barrier properties of ascorbic acid reduced GO with different reduction conditions, water permeation experiments with GO reduced with ascorbic acid at different temperatures and also for different reduction time were performed. The results are shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows ascorbic acid reduction was more efficient above approximately 60C. The samples reduced below 60 C. showed few times lower water barrier property even after 48 hours of reduction. However, for GO reduced above 60 C., 1 hour reduction is sufficient to obtain good water barrier property.

EXAMPLE 5

Methods of Increasing the Adhesion between GO and/or rGO Laminate Membranes and Various Substrates

[0126] Activating PET substratePET substrates were cleaned by sonication in ethanol and isopropanol followed by drying with dry nitrogen gas blow. After the cleaning process, the PET substrates were placed under the UV light/ozone for 0.5-2 hours for surface activation. Alternatively, PET substrates can be treated by oxygen plasma for 5-30 minutes with a power of 30-300 W instead of UV/ozone exposure. During this process, the surfaces of the PET get activated with oxygen containing functional groups, which is beneficial for improving the adhesion (due to the improved bonding between GO and PET) and uniformity of the GO/rGO coating on the PET.

[0127] Metal surface pre-coatingPre-coating metal substrates with polymers or molecules is an option to improve the adhesion of GO to metal surfaces. For example, one could spin-coat 20-100 nm-thick PMMA on metal surface to improve the adhesion of GO/rGO to the metal.

[0128] Use of phytic acid as a pre-coating molecule was also tested: metal substrates (steel) were dipped inside phytic acid for 10-60 minutes and then a GO coating applied on top of it. It is believed that phytic acid forms complexes with the atoms on the surface of the metal and Pi-Pi interaction with GO plane, which could improve the adhesion of GO to the metal substrates.

[0129] Glass or other silicon-based substratesSodium metasilicate-GO composite (cross-linked) exhibited good adhesion to glass substrates. Thus, a laminate membrane comprising 60 wt % GO with the remainder sodium metasilicate shows better adhesion to glass substrates than a pure GO laminate.

EXAMPLE 6

Effect of Mechanical Deformation and Wear on Barrier Properties

[0130] Mechanical robustness of barrier films is important for their practical applications. For qualitative assessment of mechanical stability of the rGO films, He tests were performed for HI-rGO on PET before and after multiple (>10) folding to a radius of less than 1 mm in different directions. An example of the results is shown and compared with those for the industry-standard films (Al on PET), which experienced the same deformations, The AL film exhibited a 2-3-fold increase in He permeation rates whereas HI-rGO of a similar thickness showed no discernible change. Only films with HI-rGO thickness of200 nm exhibited increased He leaks. In this case, the resulting permeation rate was >100 times above the detection limit but still remained significantly lower than the gas permeation through the standard aluminized PET, even before its deformation.

[0131] The increased gas permeation after multiple folding for the thicker rGO films can be attributed to their weaker adhesion to PET compared to that of thin coatings. To support this idea, simple scratch tests were performed on both thin and thick rGO on PET and it was found that thin (<50 nm) rGO coatings on PET were stable with respect to scratching by a PTFE or wooden sticks, whereas thicker films exhibited scratching marks. It is possible that, similar to the standard Al films used as gas barriers, the scratchability, adhesion and mechanical robustness could be significantly improved by encapsulating rGO with another thin PET or polymer film.

[0132] For further evaluation of the effect of mechanical strain on permeation properties of the barrier films, an isotropic strain was applied by introducing a differential pressure across PET membranes. The maximum pressure that could be applied to the PET films before rupturing them was approximately 4 bar and, therefore, the pressure applied to the barrier films was limited to 2 bar. Membranes were kept under this pressure for 30 minutes and permeation experiments were performed after releasing it. The effect of the strain on bare PET and PET coated with Al and HI-rGO is shown. Bare PET exhibits high He permeation but it changes little before and after applying the strain. The industry-standard aluminized PET became ten times more transparent to He after straining, nearly as transparent as bare PET. This shows that the strain test effectively destroyed the Al film as a gas barrier. Although a tenfold increase in He permeation for strained HI-rGO on PET was observed, the permeability remained much lower than for aluminized PET sheets before their straining.

[0133] Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the words comprise and contain and variations of them mean including but not limited to, and they are not intended to (and do not) exclude other moieties, additives, components, integers or steps. Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the singular encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise requires. In particular, where the indefinite article is used, the specification is to be understood as contemplating plurality as well as singularity, unless the context requires otherwise.

[0134] Features, integers, characteristics, compounds, chemical moieties or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment or example of the invention are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described herein unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The invention is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

[0135] The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.