Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon layer, is an excellent universal substance. It has recently attracted significant research attention because of its impressive thermal, elastic, optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. Current methods of producing high-quality graphene are expensive and complex, such as the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD). An alternative path for the production of scalable graphene-related materials is the major focus in this study. Similar in structure to the pristine graphene, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is derived from graphite powder. The rGO is traditionally produced from graphite oxide (GO) using the Hummer's method. Reducing graphene oxide is a cost-effective and scalable path for producing high quality carbon materials with tunable C/O ratios. This report, conducted during the 2013 ACS Project SEED Summer Program,  introduces several methods to reduce graphene oxide including two wet methods (reducing GO in solvent using a microwave or a hot plate) and a dry method (CVD using hydrogen as a reducing agent under elevated temperatures). Samples were characterized using Raman spectroscopy for the identification of GO and rGO quality, UV-VIS for their photo-activity, FTIR for determination of functional groups, SDT for the thermal stability studies, and SEM-TEM for visualization of surface diagram and internal structure.

Multiply approaches for reductions of graphene oxides and their characterizations

247th National Meeting (2014)

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