Quantifying interflake ordering in graphene oxide films via wide-angle X-ray scattering analysis

We report a methodology based on wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) to quantify the ordering between graphene oxide (GO) flakes in self-assembled films. By comparing WAXS signals of GO and graphite, we extract orientation distribution coefficients (<i>S</i>) from the GO 001 and (100) scattering features. To characterize the anisotropy in flake alignment, we define a ratio parameter (<i>R</i>) as the quotient of orientation distribution coefficients obtained under orthogonal orientations from the normal direction of the GO film with respect to the X-ray beam. This dimensionless ratio allows us to assess the degree of meso-structural anisotropy and condenses comparative orientation information into a single dimensionless metric, providing a new structural parameter for GO and related layered materials. In our measurements, <i>R</i> reached values of 0.11 for the GO 001 signal. These results demonstrate a metric for characterizing anisotropy in disordered 2D materials.