Electrical and thermal conductivities of reduced graphene oxide/polystyrene composites

The author reports an experimental study of electrical and thermal transport in reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/polystyrene (PS) composites. The electrical conductivity (σ) of RGO/PS composites with different RGO concentrations at room temperature shows a percolation behavior with the percolation threshold of ∼0.25 vol. %. Their temperature-dependent electrical conductivity follows Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping conduction in the temperature range of 30–300 K. The thermal conductivity (κ) of composites is enhanced by ∼90% as the concentration is increased from 0 to 10 vol. %. The thermal conductivity of composites approximately linearly increases with increasing temperature from 150 to 300 K. Composites with a higher concentration show a stronger temperature dependence in the thermal conductivity.