title: In-Situ ESEM and EELS Observation of Water Uptake and Ice Formation in Multilayer Graphene Oxide.
abstract: Graphene oxide (GO) is hydrophilic and swells significantly when in contact with water. Here, we investigate the change in thickness of multilayer graphene oxide membranes due to intercalation of water, via humidity-controlled observation in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The thickness increases reproducibly with increasing relative humidity. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) reveals the existence of water ice under cryogenic conditions, even in high vacuum environment. Additionally, we demonstrate that freezing then thawing water trapped in the multilayer graphene oxide membrane leads to the opening up of micron-scale inter-lamellar voids due to the expansion of ice crystals.
authors.affiliation: 1] International Research Center for Hydrogen Energy [2] Department of Mechanical Engineering [3] Next-Generation Fuel Cell Center (NEXT-FC).
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Daio
authors.affiliation: International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER).
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikuta
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.affiliation: 1] International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER) [2] Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mechanical Engineering [2] International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER).
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.affiliation: 1] International Research Center for Hydrogen Energy [2] Department of Mechanical Engineering [3] Next-Generation Fuel Cell Center (NEXT-FC) [4] International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER).
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: 1] International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER) [2] Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matthew Lyth