Preparation and characterization of graphene oxide

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) films with two-dimensional structure were successfully prepared via the modified Hummer method. It is proven that redox method is a promising way to synthesize GO films on a large scale. Comprehensive characterizations of the properties of GO films were conducted. TEM and DFM analyses showed that GO sheets prepared in this study had single and double lamellar layer structure and a thickness of 23 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was selected to measure the crystal structure of GO sheet. Fourier-transform infrared spectra analyzer (FT-IR) was used to certify the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups in GO films. The tests of UV-VIS spectrometer and TGA analyzer indicated that GO sheet possessed excellent optical response and outstanding thermal stability. Elemental analyzer (EA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analyzed the components synthetic material. Simultaneously, chemical structure of GO sheet was described in this study. Discussion and references for further research on graphene are provided. © 2014 Jianguo Song et al.