Towards the Mechanism of Protonic Transport in Graphene Oxide*

Graphene oxide (GO) has been considered as a good ionic conductor and an electronic insulator simultaneously [1,2]. The mechanism of the protonic conductivity in GO has not been studied carefully yet.
This report presents new experimental data of the protonic conduction in GO in a wide temperature range with the humidity as a parameter. The activation energy of the protonic transport (approx. 0.7 eV) was obtained from the Arrhenius plots.
Applications of GO membranes to the humidity sensors [2] and to solid-state electrolyte energy storage devices [1] have been considered.
1. Wei Gao, et al., Direct laser writing of micro-super capacitors on hydrated graphite oxide film, Nature Nanotechnology, 2011, v.6, 8, p.p.496-500
2. H. Bi, et al., Ultrahigh humidity sensitivity of graphene oxide, Scientific Reports, 2013, v.3, 2714