Comparison of the Catalytic Oxidation Reaction on Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide

Abstract

The capacities of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films grown on silicon substrate to cause the aniline to azobenzene oxidation reaction were compared by using Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES), and work function measurements as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The oxygen carriers’ existence on GO film, which includes a lot of oxygen carriers, can facilitate the aniline to azobenzene oxidation reaction with slightly partial conversion of aniline to nitrobenzene, as determined by the Raman shifts and core-level spectra resulting from exposure to aniline. The work function of the GO film was found to change dramatically in comparison with rGO film, indicating that aniline exposed to a GO film produced n-type doping characteristics by electron charge transfer from GO to aniline. These results indicate that the oxygen carriers on a GO film oxidize aniline to azobenzene and show that GO film prefers to act as a reaction reagent rather than rGO.