Reduced Graphene Oxide for Room Temperature Hydrogen Storage Application

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) is extracted from graphite oxide synthesized using modified Hummers method. The extracted GO solution is then drop casted onto a p type silicon substrate and dried in hot air oven. The dried solution is annealed at a temperature of about 200 degree Celsius for about one hour to obtain thermally reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Such thermally synthesized RGO usually have a lot of structural defects which can act as a binding site for hydrogen. The binding efficiency of hydrogen to defect centers can be increased by applying electric field to RGO as it changes the carrier concentration (doping) on the surface. This induces more polarization in the hydrogen molecule resulting in strong binding force, thereby increasing its hydrogen storage efficiency. In our experiment we have demonstrated room temperature electric field doping in RGO films by modulating the channel current by changing the back gate voltage which is a precursor for employing RGO in hydrogen storage applications.KeywordsGraphene oxide, Reduced graphene oxide, Field effect, Hydrogen storage, and Defects