Dynamic Mesoscale Interfacial Characterisation of Graphene and Graphene Oxide Thin Films in Water, Dodecane and their Vapour using QCM

In this paper, we report the experimental work conducted on graphene and graphene oxide thin film coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) exposed to DI water and dodecane, as well as corresponding water and dodecane close to saturation vapour, in the temperature range 20-60° C. Changes in interfacial properties are investigated by realtime measurements of QCM resonant frequency shift as well as motional resistance variation. We observed nanobubble adsorption/desorption on the graphene surface, graphene nano-flakes rearrangements as well as gas and liquid adsorption by the graphene layers when the graphene film was exposed to liquid and vapour phases. In liquid environment, increased temperature has induced consistent trends for the liquid mass uptake by the graphene and graphene oxide films.