Preparation and characterization of conducting polymer nanocomposite with partially reduced graphene oxide

• We prepared novel electro-conductive graphene/polymer nanocomposite (GP).
• GP was prepared by oxidative polymerization of EDOT in the presence of graphene oxide (GO).
• During the polymerization, GO was partially reduced, while GP displayed a stable aqueous suspension.
• GP demonstrated enhanced electrical conductivity without complicated reduction processes for the graphene.

We report here a synthetic route to producing electro-conductive graphene/polymer nanocomposite (GP) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and partially reduced graphene oxide (pRGO). GP was prepared by in situ oxidative polymerization of EDOT using PSS as a template in the presence of graphene oxide (GO). During the polymerization, GO was partially reduced, while the resulting nanocomposite (GP) displayed a stable aqueous suspension. Compared with a simple mixture of GO and pre-prepared PEDOT:PSS, GP showed an enhanced electrical conductivity of 9.2 S cm−1.