Reduced graphene oxide produced by chemical and hydrothermal methods

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide has attracted considerable interest due to its immense potential in developing a wide range of application devices. A key feature of the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide is that different methods of preparation result in materials with different properties which in turn affect their final performance. Here we depict two simple methods to synthesize reduced graphene oxide from graphite powder. Graphite oxide was prepared by the modified Hummer’s method through chemical oxidation of graphite powder. The reduction process was done by chemical and hydrothermal methods to attain minimum residual oxygen functionality. Both the samples were analyzed by characterization tools like XRD, confocal Raman, FTIR, and SEM which confirmed the formation of reduced graphene oxide. Even though hydrothermal reduction is cost effective and environmental friendly, the deoxygenation of graphene oxide by this method is found to be partial in comparison with chemical method.