THE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COBALT (Co), NICKEL (Ni) AND COPPER (Cu) NITROGEN-DOPED GRAPHENE NANOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped graphene (NGr) and metal nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposites (MNGr) were synthesized employing chemical reduction method. The synthesized nanocomposites and graphene oxide (GO) were characterized via conventional characterization techniques. UV-Vis spectra of the synthesized metal nanocomposites indicated that cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) and (Cu) copper nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited surface plasmon resonance peaks at 515 nm, 230 nm and 770 nm respectively, indicating the formation of the respective metal nanoparticles (MNPs) on NGr. The EDXRF analysis showed that the synthesized nanocomposites of the metals are very pure. SEM indicated the appearance of wrinkles and crumples, confirming the structural morphology of NGr. It also showed the attachment of smaller and white spherically shaped spots with insubstantial aggregation of MNPs on NGr. FTIR analysis showed the C=C stretching frequency in the GO that has shifted to a higher wavenumber from 1632.6-1640 cm- 1, indicating successful reduction of the nanocomposites. XRD analysis revealed the presence of the face-centred cubic crystalline lattices (fcc) for Ni, Co and Cu nanoparticles. The Scherrer equation was used to calculate the mean particle sizes of the MNPs formed on the NGr support.