Tailoring mechanical and electrical properties of graphene oxide film for structural dielectric capacitors

Graphene oxide (GO) films can be used in structural dielectric capacitors (SDCs) as both primary structures and energy storage devices for large transportation equipment like aircraft. To meet the high requirements for aviation application, in this paper the mechanical and dielectric properties of GO films were optimized by concisely tailoring their carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. Our results show that both the mechanical and electrical conductivity of GO films increase with increasing the C/O ratio. This work also demonstrates that both mechanical and dielectric properties of GO films can be enhanced simultaneously through a mild reduction whilst retaining the electrical insulating nature of GO for SDC applications. The insights provided in this work would be beneficial not only for SDC applications but also for fundamental studies and developments of GO related materials. [Display omitted] •Free-standing graphene oxide films with various C-to-O ratios are prepared.•Dielectric constant of graphene oxide films increases after mild reduction.•Mechanical properties of graphene oxide films increases after mild reduction.•Structural dielectric capacitors endured superior cyclic stability over 5000 cycles.