Porous Graphene Oxide Research Articles

One-step electroplating porous graphene oxide electrodes of supercapacitors for ultrahigh capacitance and energy density

An electroplating method was used for the first time to synthesize 3D porous graphene oxide (PGO) architectures, exhibiting ultrahigh capacitance and energy density as electrodes of supercapacitors. Scanning electron microscopy illustrated the porous structures which promoted the stability and alleviated the stacking of the graphene oxide layers. As investigated in a three-electrode supercapacitor cell, PGO electrodes exhibited the maximum capacitance and energy of 973 F · g−1 and 98.4 Wh · Kg−1, which are better than current reports and comparable to batteries. At 4 A · g−1 for high-power applications, PGO electrodes reached a capacitance, energy, and power density of 493 F · g−1, 49.9 Wh · Kg−1, and 1700 W · Kg−1, and they retained ∼97.83% of capacitance after 10 000 charge/discharge processes. Furthermore, when the PGO was bent exaggeratedly, it still displayed identical properties, which is of important significance for supporting wearable devices.

Tandem catalysis of amines using porous graphene oxide.

Porous graphene oxide can be used as a metal-free catalyst in the presence of air for oxidative coupling of primary amines. Herein, we explore a GO-catalyzed carbon-carbon or/and carbon-heteroatom bond formation strategy to functionalize primary amines in tandem to produce a series of valuable products, i.e., α-aminophosphonates, α-aminonitriles, and polycyclic heterocompounds. Furthermore, when decorated with nano-Pd, the Pd-coated porous graphene oxide can be used as a bifunctional catalyst for tandem oxidation and hydrogenation reactions in the N-alkylation of primary amines, achieving good to excellent yields under mild conditions.

Porous graphene-based material as an efficient metal free catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene.

Reduced porous graphene oxide as a metal free catalyst was selected for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene. It showed the best catalytic performance compared with other carbon materials (routinely reduced graphene oxide, graphite powder and oxidized carbon nanotubes) and commercial iron oxide.

A facile route to porous beta-gallium oxide nanowires-reduced graphene oxide hybrids with enhanced photocatalytic efficiency

A facile route was developed to fabricate porous beta-gallium oxide nanowires (β-Ga2O3 NWs)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrids using β-Ga2O3 NWs and graphene oxide (GO) as raw materials. The characterization results indicate that supercritical water can act as an efficient reductant to situ-reduce GO into rGO, and porous β-Ga2O3 NWs can further attach on the surface of as-reduced rGO through a strong coupling forces between the β-Ga2O3 NWs and rGO. The photocatalytic performance of the hybrids can be obviously improved (about 74%) for the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) solution after coupling with 1wt% rGO compared with the pure β-Ga2O3 NWs. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the synergistic effect of extended optical absorption band, the enrichment of MB molecular on the rGO and the valid inhibition of recombination of photo-generated electron–hole pairs induced by the strong coupling interaction between rGO nanosheets and porous β-Ga2O3 NWs.

Cell-Assembled Graphene Biocomposite for Enhanced Chondrogenic Differentiation

Graphene-based nanomaterials are increasingly being explored for use as biomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications due to their exceptional physicochemical and mechanical properties. However, the two-dimensional nature of graphene makes it difficult to extend its applications beyond planar tissue culture. Here, graphene-cell biocomposites are used to pre-concentrate growth factors for chondrogenic differentiation. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are assembled with graphene flakes in the solution to form graphene-cell biocomposites. Increasing concentrations of graphene (G) and porous graphene oxide (pGO) are found to correlate positively with the extent of differentiation. However, beyond a certain concentration, especially in the case of graphene oxide, it will lead to decreased chondrogenesis due to increased diffusional barrier and cytotoxic effects. Nevertheless, these findings indicate that both G and pGO could serve as effective pre-concentration platforms for the construction of tissue-engineered cartilage and suspension-based cultures in vitro.

Monolithic Porous Graphene/Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Gels: Preparation, Structure and Dye Adsorption

The porous graphene oxide (GO) gels were prepared using the process of aqueous gel precursor freezing, solvent exchange, and ethanol drying technology. The GO sheets were consolidated by PVA and the obtained GO-PVA gel was reduced by glucose to prepare graphene nanosheet-SA (RGO-PVA) gel. GO-PVA and RGO-PVA gels exhibited the ultra-light densities of 10.52 and 11.24 mg/cm3, respectively. GO-PVA and RGO-PVA can effectively adsorb the liquids. The less the polarity of the liquid was, the more the adsorption for both GO-PVA and RGO-PVA gels was. The equilibrium and the dynamic adsorption of methylene blue dye were also investigated. The maximum adsorption capacities of dye were 571.4mg/g for GO-PVA and 81.0 mg/g for RGO-PVA at 30 oC.

Porous graphene gels: Preparation and its electrochemical properties

Ultra-light porous 3D network graphene oxide (GO) gels were prepared using a simple process of aqueous gel precursor freezing, solvent exchange, and ethanol drying rather than supercritical drying technology. The GO sheets were consolidated by cross-linked sodium alginate (SA) and the obtained GO–SA gel was reduced by glucose to prepare graphene nanosheet–SA (GN–SA) gel. The gels were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements. SA was proven to attach to GO or GN surfaces to form gels composed of macropores and mesopores. GO–SA gel exhibited a bulk density of 16.79 mg cm−3, and adsorbed water 17.4 times, ethanol 20.5 times, and soybean oil 22.4 times the weight of GO–SA gel, while GN–SA gel exhibited a lower bulk density of 12.93 mg cm−3, and adsorbed water 12.2 times, ethanol 16.9 times and soybean oil 32.3 times the weight of GN–SA gel. The electrochemical performance of the GN–SA gel was analyzed using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectrometry, and chronopotentiometry. The results revealed that GN–SA gel displayed superior capacitive performance with large capacitance (114.12 F g−1) and excellent cyclic performance.

Porous NiCo2O4-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite with superior capacitance retention for supercapacitors

In present work, we developed a simple and green route to fabricate irregular porous network-like NiCo2O4-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite supported on the nickel foam substrates, which was directly used as a binder-free electrode for supercapacitors. The rGO served as a conductive network to facilitate the collection and transportation of electrons during the cycling, improved the conductivity of NiCo2O4, and allowed for a larger specific surface area. The irregular porous structure allowed for the easy diffusion of the electrolyte into the inner region of the electrode. Moreover, the nanocomposite directly fabricated on nickel foam with a better adhesion and avoided the use of polymer binder. This method efficiently reduced ohmic polarization and enhanced the rate capability. As a result, the NiCo2O4-rGO nanocomposite exhibited a specific capacitance of 777.1 F g−1 at 5 A g−1 and about 99.3% of the capacitance retained after 3000 cycles. The capacitance retention was about 87.6% when the current density increased from 1 A g−1 to 20 A g−1. These results indicated that such the irregular porous network-like structure directly synthesized on the substrate could be a promising candidate for high performance energy storage application.

Thickness-self-controlled synthesis of porous transparent polyaniline-reduced graphene oxide composites towards advanced bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells

A powerful synthesis strategy is proposed for fabricating porous polyaniline-reduced graphene oxide (PANI-RGO) composites with transparency up to 80% and thickness from 300 to 1000 nm for the counter electrode (CE) of bifacial dye-sensitizing solar cells (DSSCs). The first step is to combine the in-situ positive charge transformation of graphene oxide (GO) through aniline (ANI) prepolymerization and the electrostatic adsorption of ANI oligomer-GO to effectively control the thickness of ultrathin PANI-GO films by adjusting pH of the polymerization media. In the second step, PANI-GO films are reduced with hydroiodic acid to simultaneously enhance the apparent redox activity for the I3−/I− couple and their electronic conductivity. Incorporating the RGO increases the transparency of PANI and facilitates the light-harvesting from the rear side. A DSSC assembled with such a transparent PANI-RGO CE exhibits an excellent efficiency of 7.84%, comparable to 8.19% for a semi-transparent Pt-based DSSC. The high light-harvesting ability of PANI-RGO enhances the efficiency retention between rear- and front-illumination modes to 76.7%, compared with 69.1% for a PANI-based DSSC. The higher retention reduces the power-to-weight ratio and the total cost of bifacial DSSCs, which is also promising in other applications, such as windows, power generators, and panel screens.

High-Performance Multifunctional Graphene Yarns: Toward Wearable All-Carbon Energy Storage Textiles

The successful commercialization of smart wearable garments is hindered by the lack of fully integrated carbon-based energy storage devices into smart wearables. Since electrodes are the active components that determine the performance of energy storage systems, it is important to rationally design and engineer hierarchical architectures atboth the nano- and macroscale that can enjoy all of the necessary requirements for a perfect electrode. Here we demonstrate a large-scale flexible fabrication of highly porous high-performance multifunctional graphene oxide (GO) and rGO fibers and yarns by taking advantage of the intrinsic soft self-assembly behavior of ultralarge graphene oxide liquid crystalline dispersions. The produced yarns, which are the only practical form of these architectures for real-life device applications, were found to be mechanically robust (Young's modulus in excess of 29 GPa) and exhibited high native electrical conductivity (2508 ± 632 S m(-1)) and exceptionally high specific surface area (2605 m(2) g(-1) before reduction and 2210 m(2) g(-1) after reduction). Furthermore, the highly porous nature of these architectures enabled us to translate the superior electrochemical properties of individual graphene sheets into practical everyday use devices with complex geometrical architectures. The as-prepared final architectures exhibited an open network structure with a continuous ion transport network, resulting in unrivaled charge storage capacity (409 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1)) and rate capability (56 F g(-1) at 100 A g(-1)) while maintaining their strong flexible nature.

Porous graphene oxide–chitosan aerogel for tetracycline removal

Nanotechnology has brought new approaches for the treatment of antibiotics, which are potent pollutants to water. In this study, we reported that a porous graphene oxide–chitosan aerogel (PGO-CS) could be used as a recyclable adsorbent for tetracycline removal. PGO-CS adsorbed tetracycline with a capacity of around 1.47 × 103 mg g−1, ranking it among the most effective adsorbents for tetracycline. The adsorption equilibrium was well fitted to the Temkin model with a b value of 2.83 × 10−3 kJ mol−1. The adsorption kinetics was described by the pseudo-first-order model, giving a k1 value of −2.37 × 10−3 (1 min−1). The intraparticle model fitting suggested that the adsorption involved intraparticle diffusion and surface diffusion. In the thermodynamics investigation, the negative ΔG implied that the adsorption was spontaneous and physisorption in nature. The positive ΔH demonstrated that the adsorption process was endothermic and the adsorption was mainly driven by the increased randomness. Higher pH and ionic strength facilitated the adsorption significantly. In addition, PGO-CS was easily regenerated by washing with HCl aqueous solution.

Restacking-Inhibited 3D Reduced Graphene Oxide for High Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes

Graphene has received considerable attention in both scientific and technological areas due to its extraordinary material properties originating from the atomically single- or small number-layered structure. Nevertheless, in most scalable solution-based syntheses, graphene suffers from severe restacking between individual sheets and thus loses its material identity and advantages. In the present study, we have noticed the intercalated water molecules in the dried graphene oxide (GO) as a critical mediator to such restacking and thus eliminated the hydrogen bonding involving the intercalated water by treating GO with melamine resin (MR) monomers. Upon addition of MR monomers, porous restacking-inhibited GO sheets precipitated, leading to the carbonaceous composite with an exceptionally large surface area of 1040 m(2)/g after a thermal treatment. Utilizing such high surface area, the final graphene composite exhibited excellent electrochemical performance as a supercapacitor electrode material: specific capacitance of 210 F/g, almost no capacitance loss for 20,000 cycles, and ~7 s rate capability. The current study delivers a message that various condensation reactions engaging GO sheets can be a general synthetic approach for restacking-inhibited graphene in scalable solution processes.

Preparation and properties of highly conductive palmitic acid/graphene oxide composites as thermal energy storage materials

PA/GO (palmitic acid/graphene oxide) as PCMs (phase change materials) prepared by vacuum impregnation method, have high thermal conductivity. The GO (graphene oxide) composite was used as supporting material to improve thermal conductivity and shape stabilization of composite PCM (phase change material). SEM (Scanning electronic microscope), FT-IR (Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope) and XRD (X-ray diffractometer) were applied to determine microstructure, chemical structure and crystalloid phase of palmitic acid/GO composites, respectively. DSC (Differential scanning calorimeter) test was done to investigate thermal properties which include melting and solidifying temperatures and latent heat. FT-IR analysis represented that the composite instruction of porous palmitic acid and GO were physical. The temperatures of melting, freezing and latent heats of the composite measured through DSC analysis were 60.45, 60.05 °C, 101.23 and 101.49 kJ/kg, respectively. Thermal cycling test showed that the form-stable composite PCM has good thermal reliability and chemical stability. Thermal conductivity of the composite PCM was improved by more than three times from 0.21 to 1.02. As a result, due to their acceptable thermal properties, good thermal reliability, chemical stability and great thermal conductivities, we can consider the prepared form-stable composites as highly conductive PCMs for thermal energy storage applications.

Porous Co3O4 Nanorods–Reduced Graphene Oxide with Intrinsic Peroxidase-Like Activity and Catalysis in the Degradation of Methylene Blue

A facile two step process was developed for the synthesis of porous Co3O4 nanorods-reduced graphene oxide (PCNG) hybrid materials based on the hydrothermal treatment cobalt acetate tetrahydrate and graphene oxide in a glycerol-water mixed solvent, followed by annealing the intermediate of reduced graphene oxide-supported Co(CO3)0.5(OH)·0.11H2O nanorods in a N2 atmosphere. The morphology and microstructure of the composites were examined by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that the obtained PCNG have intrinsic peroxidase-like activity. The PCNG are utilized for the catalytic degradation of methylene blue. The good catalytic performance of the composites could be attributed to the synergy between the functions of porous Co3O4 nanorods and reduced graphene oxide.

Photochemical Engineering of Graphene Oxide Nanosheets

Many unique properties of graphene oxide (GO) strongly depend on the oxygenated functional groups and morphologies. Here, the photoreaction process is demonstrated to be very useful to control these factors. We report the fast, simple production of nanopores in porous GO via photoreaction in O2 under UV irradiation at room temperature. Quantitative analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that nanopores were produced in areas of oxygenated groups (sp3 carbon bonds), creating porous reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The photoreaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of changes in the number of oxygenated groups. Proton conduction occurred at the basal plane of epoxide groups in virgin GO, even at low humidity, and at carboxyl groups for porous rGO at high humidity. Thus, GO and rGO samples with various morphologies, oxygenated functional groups, and conduction types can be easily fabricated by controlling the photoreaction conditions.

Two Dimensional Soft Material: New Faces of Graphene Oxide

Graphite oxide sheets, now called graphene oxide (GO), can be made from chemical exfoliation of graphite by reactions that have been known for 150 years. Because GO is a promising solution-processable precursor for the bulk production of graphene, interest in this old material has resurged. The reactions to produce GO add oxygenated functional groups to the graphene sheets on their basal plane and edges, and this derivatization breaks the π-conjugated network, resulting in electrically insulating but highly water-dispersible sheets. Apart from making graphene, GO itself has many intriguing properties. Like graphene, GO is a two-dimensional (2D) sheet with feature sizes at two abruptly different length scales. The apparent thickness of the functionalized carbon sheet is approximately 1 nm, but the lateral dimensions can range from a few nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. Therefore, researchers can think of GO as either a single molecule or a particle, depending on which length scale is of greater interest. At the same time, GO can be viewed as an unconventional soft material, such as a 2D polymer, highly anisotropic colloid, membrane, liquid crystal, or amphiphile. In this Account, we highlight the soft material characteristics of GO. GO consists of nanographitic patches surrounded by largely disordered, oxygenated domains. Such structural characteristics effectively make GO a 2D amphiphile with a hydrophilic periphery and largely hydrophobic center. This insight has led to better understanding of the solution properties of GO for making thin films and new applications of GO as a surfactant. Changes in pH and sheet size can tune the amphiphilicity of GO, leading to intriguing interfacial activities. In addition, new all-carbon composites made of only graphitic nanostructures using GO as a dispersing agent have potential applications in photovoltaics and energy storage. On the other hand, GO can function as a 2D random diblock copolymer, one block graphitic and the other heavily hydroxylated. Therefore, GO can guide material assembly through π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding. Additionally, the selective etching of the more reactive sp(3) blocks produces a porous GO network, which greatly enhances interactions with gas molecules in chemical sensors. With their high aspect ratio, GO colloids can readily align to form liquid crystalline phases at high concentration. As single-atomic, water-dispersible, soft carbon sheets that can be easily converted to a conductive form, this 2D material should continue to inspire many curiosity-driven discoveries and applications at the interfaces of chemistry, materials science, and other disciplines.

Study on the Catalytic Activity of Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO), an oxygen-rich carbonaceous layered material, is produced by the strong oxidation of graphite. The GO aqueous suspension is very stable and can be fabricated to porous GO aerogels by a green method, unidirectional freeze-drying technology. GO shows catalytic activities in both solution and solid state. It can also act as reductant or oxidant depending on the reaction patterns. The product of the reaction was analyzed and the component change of the graphene oxide (GO) was monitored by x-ray photoelectron spectrometer, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results confirm that GO not only acts as the reactant in the reaction, but also as the catalyst to catalyze the reaction.

Probing the catalytic activity of porous graphene oxide and the origin of this behaviour

Graphene oxide, a two-dimensional aromatic scaffold decorated by oxygen-containing functional groups, possesses rich chemical properties and may present a green alternative to precious metal catalysts. Graphene oxide-based carbocatalysis has recently been demonstrated for aerobic oxidative reactions. However, its widespread application is hindered by the need for high catalyst loadings. Here we report a simple chemical treatment that can create and enlarge the defects in graphene oxide and impart on it enhanced catalytic activities for the oxidative coupling of amines to imines (up to 98% yield at 5 wt% catalyst loading, under solvent-free, open-air conditions). This study examines the origin of the enhanced catalytic activity, which can be linked to the synergistic effect of carboxylic acid groups and unpaired electrons at the edge defects. The discovery of a simple chemical processing step to synthesize highly active graphene oxide allows the premise of industrial-scale carbocatalysis to be explored.

Steam Etched Porous Graphene Oxide Network for Chemical Sensing

Oxidative etching of graphene flakes was observed to initiate from edges and the occasional defect sites in the basal plane, leading to reduced lateral size and a small number of etch pits. In contrast, etching of highly defective graphene oxide and its reduced form resulted in rapid homogeneous fracturing of the sheets into smaller pieces. On the basis of these observations, a slow and more controllable etching route was designed to produce nanoporous reduced graphene oxide sheets by hydrothermal steaming at 200 °C. The degree of etching and the concomitant porosity can be conveniently tuned by etching time. In contrast to nonporous reduced graphene oxide annealed at the same temperature, the steamed nanoporous graphene oxide exhibited nearly 2 orders of magnitude increase in the sensitivity and improved recovery time when used as chemiresistor sensor platform for NO(2) detection. The results underscore the efficacy of the highly distributed nanoporous network in the low temperature steam etched GO.

Graphene oxide hydrogel at solid/liquid interface

A strong solid/liquid interfacial interaction is found between porous alumina and graphene oxide (GO) aqueous dispersion, which promotes a fast enrichment of GO on the alumina surface and results in the formation of a GO hydrogel.