Unravelling the hydration mechanism in a multi-layered graphene oxide paper by in-situ X-ray scattering

CARBON 2018, 137, 379-383.

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Hydration of a multi-layered graphene oxide (GO) paper in water vapor atmosphere was studied by in-situ X-ray scattering over a wide range of relative humidity (RH). The intercalation of water molecules physically adsorbed between GO layers induces the expansion of the interlayer distance. Two regimes of adsorption are clearly evidenced according to the variation of the interlayer distance as a function of the relative humidity. The expansion of the interlayer distance is limited to ∼1 Å for RH ranging from 6 to 53%, whereas it is ∼3.5 Å for RH 75–100%. The hydration mechanism corresponds to the progressive adsorption of water molecules onto hydrophilic sites at the surface of GO layers in the low-RH regime, then an additional water monolayer is formed in the high-RH regime.