Abstract
Due to fascinating electronic properties and great potential in various applications, graphene has attracted great interest. Recently, much work have focused on the synthesis of different sizes and properties of graphene or graphene oxides (GOs), for example, graphene nanoribbons, nanosized graphene pieces, and nanosized triangular and hexagonal graphene sheets terminated by zigzag edges. Herein, we have demonstrated a widely available approach to fabricate the nanoscale GO pieces by directly solution-phase cutting a large-area GO sheet into nanoscale pieces via spontaneous redox reactions at room temperature. In this process, GO acts with dual functions as a model and a reducing reagent. With a typical example of silver ions, we have investigated in detail the influence of the reaction time and concentration of metal ions on yield and size of nanoscale GO pieces. Moreover, we also obtain Ag nanoparticle coating on the GO surface. Finally, a possible mechanism is suggested to explain the formation of nanoscale GO pieces.
Highlights
Since discovered by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov in 2004 [1], graphene has drawn significant attention to different scientific and technical communities due to its unique electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, and structural properties [2]
With an example of silver ions, we have investigated the influence of the reaction time and concentration of metal ions on size and properties of nanoscale graphene oxides (GOs) pieces
We mainly focused on the synthesis of silver-GO composites
Summary
Since discovered by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov in 2004 [1], graphene has drawn significant attention to different scientific and technical communities due to its unique electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, and structural properties [2]. Large-area graphene remains to be a metallic conductor even at the neutrality point which limits its application in nanoelectronic devices and biological science [3,4,5,6]. Quite a lot of researchers have reported about the preparation of graphene ribbons with quantum confinement and edge effect properties by directly tailoring large-area graphene via e-beam lithography [8], hydrogen plasma etching [9], scanning tunneling microscope lithography [10], atomic force microscopy [11], chemical stripping, or catalytic tailoring (Fe, Ni, and Co nanoparticles as catalysts) [12,13,14,15,16]. With an example of silver ions, we have investigated the influence of the reaction time and concentration of metal ions on size and properties of nanoscale GO pieces. A possible mechanism is put forward for explaining the formation of nanoscale GO pieces
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