Electrochemical synthesis of graphene oxide from graphite flakes exfoliated at room temperature

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) has shown great application prospects in many fields. Electrochemical oxidation is considered as a green, safe and efficient method to synthesize GO. This method usually requires an electrode composed of graphite with certain forms, and graphite particles may escape from the electrode, leading to a low yield of the product. In this study, we report a strategy for the synthesis of GO by a scalable electrochemical oxidation with a container having holes as anode region, in which was filled with exfoliated graphite at room temperature (RTEG). The use of the container fixes the RTEG in the electrochemical anode region, and refilling the RTEG into the container can realize a semi-continuous preparation of EGO, thus achieving a scalable and low-cost preparation of graphene oxide. Moreover, the HI-reduced EGO (rEGO) films have a high electrical conductivity, thus it can be used as the substrate of the non-enzymatic glucose biosensor. It is promising for EGO to be used in widespread field.