Synthesis and Fabrication of Graphene and Graphene Oxide: A Review

Abstract

The field of nanotechnology has advanced following the discovery of a two-dimensional material of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms, graphene in 2004 by Geim and Novoselov. Graphene has received so much attention due to its exceptional electronic, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties in addition to its large surface area and single-atom thickness. This has led to the discovery of several techniques to obtain graphene such as chemical exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), chemical synthesis etc. However, these techniques are majorly challenged with developing graphene with fewer defects and in large scale; thus, there is an increasing need to produce graphene in large quantities with high quality. Several studies have been carried out to find routes to producing high-quality graphene. This paper focuses majorly on the synthesis and fabrication methods of producing graphene and its derivative, graphene oxide. Characterization techniques to identify graphene such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) used to determine number of layers, quality, atomic structures, and defects in graphene is also briefly discussed. This article also covers a short description of graphene applications in transparent electrodes, composites and energy storage devices.