Synthesis and characterization of Graphene Oxide and its reduction with different reducing agents

Abstract

-The present work reports the simplistic formation of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by oxidizing graphite powder with the 9:1 volume combination of concentrated sulfuric acid/and ortho-phosphoric acid (H2SO4/H3PO4) in the company of KMnO4 as an oxidant. The acid combination solution of H2SO4/H3PO4 produces the improved oxidized hydrophilic GO without any evolution of hazardous gases instead of only H2SO4, which differentiates this procedure from the Hummers’ method. Then, the synthesized GO is diminished to rGO by employing various reducers namely hydrazine hydrate, sodium borohydride and, ascorbic acid through the chemical route. The properties of synthesized materials have been investigated by diverse investigative systems that are X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Raman spectroscopy and, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) which approved its high crystallinity and reduction of GO into rGO. EDS analysis confirms that the carbon to oxygen ratio is higher in rGO prepared by using hydrazine hydrate in comparison to rGO made by using sodium borohydride and ascorbic acid which reveals the good reducing capability of hydrazine hydrate. Hence, it may be concluded that the rGO synthesized by the reduction of GO in the presence of hydrazine hydrate is better as compared to others and it is expected that the synthesized material may be used for various applications.