Free-standing paper-like heat spreading films based on graphene oxide-aromatic molecule composites

Graphene has recently attracted great attention as a heat spreading material due to its unique thermal transfer property. Structural defects introduced into graphene unavoidably during graphene growth or processing are significantly affect its thermal transfer property. In this study, we choose four aromatic molecules (naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene and perylene) as “molecular patches” to heal structural defects in graphene, and free-standing paper-like heat spreading films based on graphene oxide (GO)-aromatic molecule composites have been fabricated via a synchronous reduction and assembly procedure, showing tunable optical transmittance and low sheet resistance. The Raman and X-ray diffraction characterizations of the as-prepared films indicate that the aromatic molecules have been adsorbed successfully by the GO and have partially restored the intrinsic quality of graphene. Preliminary studies on heat spreading materials using GO-aromatic molecule composite films demonstrate that the films can lead to obvious reduction in temperature of the hot source, indicating that these films are promising heat spreading materials for commercial portable electronics.