Synthesis of graphene-like phases in a water colloid by laser ablation of graphite

Abstract

The aim of our work was to obtain graphene-like phases (graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide) as fine suspensions by applying pulsed laser ablation to highly purified microcrystalline graphite targets immersed into a water medium. The fundamental wavelength, the second and the fourth harmonic wavelengths of a Nd:YAG laser system (λ = 1064 nm) were used. The morphology of the particles dispersed in water was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Their phase composition and structure were explored by SEM, Raman and XP spectroscopy, GIXRD, as well as TEM. We establish that besides of the main phases of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with flakes of micro- to nano-sized area and graphite micro-particles, the colloids contain some graphene oxide and defected, multilayered and folded multilayered graphene. The spacing of {0 0 1} increases by about 5–