This work presents a radiation-induced crosslinked graphene oxide/poly(vinylidene fluoride)/polyethylene glycol diacrylate (GO/PVDF/PEGDA) composite gel matrix, combining the relatively high dielectric constant of PVDF, the flexibility of PEGDA, and the conductive properties of GO. The gels were synthesized via a green, initiator-free gamma-radiation-induced crosslinking process. The PVDF/PEGDA gel (10% w/v PVDF and 10% w/v PEGDA) irradiated at 20 kGy exhibited the highest water and DMSO uptake and was selected as the optimal matrix, followed by the incorporation of GO. The successful crosslinking between PVDF and PEGDA and the effective integration of GO within the polymer matrix were confirmed by FTIR, XRD, TGA, DSC, XPS, and SEM analyses. Radiation-induced crosslinking with the addition of 0.1 wt% GO, promoted an α-to-β phase transformation in PVDF and induced favorable morphological changes, resulting in enhanced electrical response of the composite gels. At the optimal condition, the composite gel showed an electrical conductivity of 15.66 ± 4.31 µS cm⁻ 1 after electrolyte uptake (1 M LiPF 6 in EC/DMC) for 2 h. The improvements are attributed to the formation of a crosslinked polymer network and the presence of well-dispersed GO sheets, which provide continuous pathways for charge transport. Gamma radiation-induced crosslinking significantly enhanced the structural and physicochemical properties of the gel composite. The developed materials show promise as functional gel polymer matrices and provide a basis for future studies on advanced material applications. • Gamma radiation enables green crosslinking of PVDF/PEGDA gel matrix. • GO incorporation promotes β-phase formation and enhances electrical properties. • Optimized gel composite shows high water and DMSO uptake at 20 kGy irradiation. • Composite gel achieves 15.66 µS cm⁻¹ conductivity after electrolyte uptake. • GO/PVDF/PEGDA gel shows enhanced electrolyte uptake and electrical response.
Ieamviteevanich et al. (Wed,) studied this question.