Percolative electrical conductivity of platy alumina/few-layer graphene multilayered composites

In this work, we present a facile one-pot synthesis of a multilayer-structured platy alumina/few-layer graphene nanocomposite by planetary milling and hot pressing. The sintered composites have electrical conductivity exhibiting percolation behavior (threshold ~ 0.75 vol.%), which is much lower than graphene oxide/ceramic composites (> 3.0 vol.%). The conductivity data are well-described by the percolation theory, and the fitted exponent values are estimated to be 1.65 and 0.93 for t and q, respectively. The t and q values show conduction mechanisms intermediate between 2D- and 3D, which originates from quantum tunneling between nearest neighbored graphenes.