Reduction and structural evolution of graphene oxide sheets under hydrothermal treatment

Abstract

This work carefully investigated the hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) sheets. To evaluate the reduced extent, the as-prepared GO and RGO sheets in different conditions were measured by FT-IR, UV–Vis, Raman spectra and TEM morphologies. It revealed that the hydrothermal reduction of GO sheets was undergone four steps and the optimal condition was treated at 180 °C for 24 h. These RGO sheets exhibited the expectant morphologies and maintained the original sizes.