Thermal Reduction Of Graphene Oxide Research Articles

Reduced graphene oxide supported zinc/cobalt oxide nanoparticles as highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Developing novel electrocatalysts with both high efficiency and low cost are highly needed for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, self-assembled cobalt oxide (Co3O4) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles on thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) were successfully synthesized via simple chemical wet, sol–gel, and thermal routes as highly efficient electrocatalysts for the OER in acidic media. The synthesized TRGO@ZnO/Co3O4 catalyst presents improved OER performance, owing to the TRGO, which acted as a conducting support in the synthesized catalyst. The catalyst exhibited a low ovepotential of 160 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 50 mV dec-1, which is much smaller than that of pristine Co3O4 and TRGO. The specific activity and turnover frequency of the optimal catalyst at an overpotential of 400 mV were 0.334 mA cm−2 and 2.891 s−1, respectively, which are considerably higher than those of pristine Co3O4 (0.102 mA cm−2, 0.088 s−1) and ZnO/Co3O4 (0.063 mA cm−2, 0.109 s−1). In addition, it exhibited excellent stability and initial catalytic activity remained at 89% after a long time of 50 h at 10 mA cm−2 with faradaic efficiency of 95.34%. Thus, the synthesized TRGO@ZnO/Co3O4 catalyst material can be a promising candidate material to replace the expensive noble metal as an OER catalyst.

Ultrasimple air-annealed pure graphene oxide film for high-performance supercapacitors

Realizing both high gravimetric and volumetric specific capacitances (noted as CW and CV, respectively) is an essential prerequisite for the next-generation, high performance supercapacitors. However, the need of electronic/ionic transport for electrochemical reactions causes a “trade-off” between compacted density and capacitance of electrode, thereby impairing gravimetric or volumetric specific capacitances. Herein, we report a high-performance, film-based supercapacitor via a thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) in air. The reduced, layer-structured graphene film ensures high electrode density and high electron conductivity, while the hierarchical channels generated from reduction-induced gas releasing process offer sufficient ion transport pathways. Note that the resultant graphene film is employed directly as electrodes without using any additives (binders and conductive agents). As expected, the as-prepared electrodes perform particularly well in both CW (420F g−1) and CV (360F cm−3) at a current density of 0.5 A g−1. Even at an ultrahigh current density of 50 A g−1, CW and CV maintain in 220F g−1 and 189F cm−3, respectively. Furthermore, the corresponding symmetric two-electrode supercapacitor achieves both high gravimetric energy density of 54 W h kg−1 and high gravimetric power density of 1080 W kg−1, corresponding to volumetric energy density of 46 W h L-1 and volumetric power density of 917 W L-1.

Electromagnetic Interference Shielding by Reduced Graphene Oxide Foils

The pursuit of materials to avoid problems associated with electromagnetic pollution has become a relevant research topic. Here, we report the exceptional electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of freestanding reduced graphene oxide (rGO) foil produced by thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO). The rGO foil with a thickness of 93.1 ± 12.4 μm reaches an efficient EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) value of 61.6 dB at 12.4 GHz. The excellent performance of the rGO foil is attributed to the thermal reduction of the GO foil, which restores the electrically conductive network, resulting in the electrical conductivity of 1.17 × 104 S m–1. To obtain a more complete profile of the EMI shielding performance of the rGO foil, measurements are performed in G- and C-bands, thus becoming the first study on the EMI shielding performance of an rGO film on a broad frequency range beyond the so-called X-band. The material sustains an EMI shielding efficiency higher than 99.999% over the frequency bands investigated, greatly desired in a wide range of commercial applications in this field.

A novel electrochemical sensor based on thermally reduced graphene oxide for the sensitive determination of dopamine

In this paper, two different reduced graphene oxide samples rGO_H and rGO_M derived, respectively, from the graphene oxide (GO) obtained using traditional and modified Hummers methods were synthesized. Thermal reduction of GO was performed in the presence of malonic acid (MA) and P2O5 additives. The prepared rGO samples were investigated as active electrode materials for the electrochemical determination of dopamine (DA). The structural characterization using XPS demonstrated that the thermal treatment of GO with the mixture of MA and P2O5 leads to incorporation of phosphorus functional groups into the structure of graphene-based material, as evidenced by an increase in the phosphorus content in rGO_H (1.84%) and rGO_M (2.74%). Raman analysis confirms that a slightly larger number of defects are present in the rGO_M sample (ID/IG = 0.94) than in the rGO_H structure (ID/IG = 0.93). Electrochemical studies using CV and DPV showed that the rGO_M sample significantly improves the oxidation peak current of DA, demonstrating its higher sensitivity to the determination of dopamine than that on rGO_H. Also, it was determined that the proposed sensor based on rGO_M shows a low limit of detection value (0.11 μM) and high sensitivity (28.64 μAµM−1cm−2) toward DA detection.

High-Strength Liquid Crystal Polymer-Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites from Water.

We report on the morphology and mechanical properties of nanocomposite films derived from aqueous, hybrid liquid crystalline mixtures of rodlike aggregates of a sulfonated, all-aromatic polyamide, poly(2,2'-disulfonyl-4,4'-benzidine terephthalamide) (PBDT), and graphene oxide (GO) platelets. An isothermal step at 200 °C facilitates in situ partial thermal reduction of GO to reduced GO (rGO) in nanocomposite films. X-ray scattering studies reveal that PBDT-rGO nanocomposites exhibit both higher in-plane alignment of PBDT (the order parameter increases from 0.79 to 0.9 at 1.8 vol % rGO) and alignment along the casting direction (from 0.1 to 0.6 at 1.8 vol % rGO). From dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, the interaction between PBDT and rGO causes the β-relaxation activation energy for PBDT to increase with rGO concentration. Modulus mapping of nanocomposites using atomic force microscopy demonstrates enhanced local stiffness, indicating reinforcement. From stress-strain analysis, the average Young's modulus increases from 16 to 37 GPa at 1.8 vol % rGO and the average tensile strength increases from 210 to 640 MPa. Despite polymer alignment along the casting direction, an average transverse tensile strength of 230 MPa is obtained.

The Reinforced Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Thermal Reduced Graphene Oxide Films via Polyimide Pyrolysis.

In this work, thin reduced graphene oxide (GO) composite films were fabricated for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding application. High solid content GO slurry (7 wt %) was obtained by dispersing GO clay in polymer solution under high-speed mechanical stirring. A composite film with varied thickness (10–150 μm) could be fabricated in pilot scale. After an optimized thermal annealing procedure, the final product showed good conductivity, which reached 500 S·cm–1. The thin sample (thickness < 0.1 mm) containing 10% polymer showed an enhanced EMI shielding performance of 55–65 dB. The outstanding EMI shielding efficiency as well as good suppleness and industrialized potential of thermal reduced graphene oxide polymer composite films could make a progress on their application in flexible devices as an EMI shielding material.

Microwave-assisted reduction and sintering to construct hybrid networks of reduced graphene oxide and MXene for electromagnetic interference shielding

Graphene is a prospective electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material in light of remarkable electrical conductivity. Nevertheless, the preparation of graphene through reduction of graphene oxide (GO) is an energy/time consuming process. We utilized Ti3C2Tx as an efficient initiator to achieve the thermal reduction of GO under microwave irradiation. Simultaneously, the continuous networks of rGO/Ti3C2Tx were constructed in sintered composite by locally melting and welding polysulfone under appropriate irradiation conditions. The composite with a 1:4 ratio of GO to Ti3C2Tx treated by irradiation of 10 s possessed an EMI SE of 52.81 dB with a thickness of 2 mm, while the shielding effectiveness of reflection (SER) only reached 4.8 dB. Besides, the intensity ratio of D to G-band (ID/IG) for composite treated by appropriate microwave dropped from 1.20 to 0.74. Therefore, selective microwave heating might be a clean and low-consumption strategy for large-scale production of rGO and manufacture of high-performance composites with EMI shielding property.

Electrochemical reduction of thin graphene-oxide films in aqueous solutions – Restoration of conductivity

Graphene oxide finds applications in different fields of science, including energy conversion. Electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) significantly improves its conductivity. However, the kinetics of this process depends on the solvent, supporting electrolyte, pH, and numerous other factors. Most studies report the macroscopic views and ex-situ properties of reduced GO. To expand the knowledge about GO reduction, in this study, we used cyclic voltammetry (CV), simultaneous 2 points and 4 points resistance measurement (s24), conductive atomic force microscopy (AFM), and theoretical calculations. Using CV, we demonstrated that the choice of supporting electrolyte (KCl or LiCl) influences the potential range in which electrochemical GO reduction occurs. The activation energy of this process was estimated to be below 30 kJ mol‒1 in both electrolytes, being significantly lower than that required for thermal reduction of GO. Simultaneous in situ s24 resistance measurements suggest that GO films reach a highly conductive state at deep negative potentials, with an abrupt, irreversible switch from non-conductive to the conductive state. However, conductive AFM presents a more exact picture of this process: the reduction of GO films starts locally while the formed conductive islands grow during the reduction. This mechanism was confirmed by theoretical calculations indicating that the reduction starts on isolated oxygen-functional groups over the GO basal plane, while clustered OH groups are more difficult to reduce. The presented results can help in tailoring reduced GO for a particular electrochemical application by precisely controlling the reduction degree and percentage of the conductive area of the reduced GO films.

Effective microwave-hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide for efficient energy storage

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an important member of the family of graphene-based nanomaterials. Conventional strategies for preparing rGO include chemical, thermal, photo, laser, hydrothermal, and microwave reduction. Here we report on a rapid microwave-hydrothermal (MH) method for the effective production of pure rGO (denoted as M-rGO) without using any reducing agents. The MH process was optimized in terms of temperature and duration to tune the structure and composition of the formed M-rGO to attain high specific capacitance for energy storage. The M-rGO possessed a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected porous structure with the C/O ratio of 9:5. The 3D interconnected structure of M-rGO not only increased the active surface area and enhanced the electrical double layer capacitance, but also improved its stability. Retaining the appropriate proportion of active functional groups also made a notable contribution of pseudocapacitance. The synthesized M-rGO exhibited a much higher capacitance of 298 F g−1 (1 A g−1, 0.5 M H2SO4) for a three-electrode system and 263 F g−1 (0.5 A g−1, 20% H2SO4- PVA gel) for a two-electrode system, as well as much better capacitance retention and cyclability, in contrast to conventional chemically reduced graphene oxide (C-rGO) and thermally reduced graphene oxide (T-rGO). Moreover, the energy density of the M-rGO was very high (36.6 Wh kg−1) at a power density of 0.5 kW kg−1. This first-rate energy storage performance of the M-rGO can be attributed to its highly active surface area, appropriate carbon-oxygen ratio, porous structure, and interconnected 3D morphology.

Preparation of Silicon-Carbon-Graphene Composites and their Application to Lithium Ion Secondary Battery

Recently, high electrochemical performance anode materials for lithium ion secondary batteries are of interest. Here, we present silicon-carbon-graphene (Si-C-GR) composites for high performance anode materials of lithium ion secondary battery (LIB). Aerosol process and heat-treatment were employed to prepare the Si-C-GR composites using a colloidal mixture of silicon, glucose, and graphene oxide (GO) precursor. Fabrication of the Si-C-GR composites was composed of two stages. The first stage was formation of Si-glucose-GO composites by co-assembly of Si and GO while the sprayed droplets of the colloidal mixture went through the pre-heated aerosol reactor, and the second stage was carbonization of glucose and thermal reduction of GO by heat treatment. Morphology of as-fabricated Si-C-GR composites was generally the shape of a crumpled paper ball and the Si particles were well wrapped in carbon and graphene. The effects of the size of the silicon particles in Si-C-GR composites on the material properties including the morphology and crystal structure were investigated. Silicon particles ranged from 50 nm to 1 µm in average diameter were employed while concentration of silicon, graphene oxide and glucose was fixed in the aerosol precursor. The size range of composites was about from 2.2 to 2.9 µm. The composites including silicon particles larger than 200 nm in size exhibited higher performance as LIB anodes such as capacity and coulombic efficiency than silicon particles less than 100 nm, which were about 1500 mAh g–1 at 100 cycles in capacity and 99% in coulombic efficiency, respectively.

Research on the structure-performance relationship of thermal reduced graphene oxide based supercapacitors

Research on the structure-performance relationship of thermal reduced graphene oxide based supercapacitors

The impact of surface groups of functionalized graphene on glycerol acetylation

Thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) was functionalized using sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and 4-benzenediazonium sulfonate generated in situ to obtain solid acid graphene-based catalysts. The prepared samples were characterized using different techniques, i.e., elemental and textural analyses, microscope investigations, thermogravimetric analysis, XPS measurements, and acid-base titration. The obtained results revealed differences in the susceptibility of TRGO to functionalization with various modifying agents and in the chemical properties of the final carbon products. The catalytic performance of the graphene-based samples was further tested in the reaction of glycerol esterification performed with acetic acid at 110 °C using glycerol to acetic acid molar ratio of 1:6. The catalysts were found to be active in the tested process, however, satisfactory results were obtained only in the presence of TRGO modified with 4-benzenediazonium sulfonate (TRGO_BDS). This sample gave almost 100% conversion of glycerol just within 1 h of the reaction, along with a very high combined yield of di- and triacetins, i.e., the products of interest, of about 70%. The excellent activity of TRGO_BDS was ascribed to a high content of surface SO3H groups which were found to promote a high rate of reaction and the formation of higher acetins. The phosphate groups present on the surface of TRGO modified with phosphoric acid were also able to catalyze the process, however, their catalytic efficiency in the reaction was considerably lower than that of sulfonic groups.

Reagentless D-Tagatose Biosensors Based on the Oriented Immobilization of Fructose Dehydrogenase onto Coated Gold Nanoparticles- or Reduced Graphene Oxide-Modified Surfaces: Application in a Prototype Bioreactor.

As electrode nanomaterials, thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) and modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used to design bioelectrocatalytic systems for reliable D-tagatose monitoring in a long-acting bioreactor where the valuable sweetener D-tagatose was enzymatically produced from a dairy by-product D-galactose. For this goal D-fructose dehydrogenase (FDH) from Gluconobacter industrius immobilized on these electrode nanomaterials by forming three amperometric biosensors: AuNPs coated with 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (AuNP/4-MBA/FDH) or AuNPs coated with 4-aminothiophenol (AuNP/PATP/FDH) monolayer, and a layer of TRGO on graphite (TRGO/FDH) were created. The immobilized FDH due to changes in conformation and spatial orientation onto proposed electrode surfaces catalyzes a direct D-tagatose oxidation reaction. The highest sensitivity for D-tagatose of 0.03 ± 0.002 μA mM−1cm−2 was achieved using TRGO/FDH. The TRGO/FDH was applied in a prototype bioreactor for the quantitative evaluation of bioconversion of D-galactose into D-tagatose by L-arabinose isomerase. The correlation coefficient between two independent analyses of the bioconversion mixture: spectrophotometric and by the biosensor was 0.9974. The investigation of selectivity showed that the biosensor was not active towards D-galactose as a substrate. Operational stability of the biosensor indicated that detection of D-tagatose could be performed during six hours without loss of sensitivity.

Thermal reduced graphene oxide enhanced in-situ H2O2 generation and electrochemical advanced oxidation performance of air-breathing cathode

Developing highly efficient catalysts with high ORR activity and H2O2 selectivity is an important challenge for producing H2O2 through 2e− oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, we tuned the reduction degree of graphene oxide by controlling reducing temperature and prepared graphite-TRGO hybrid air breathing cathodes (ABCs). The H2O2 production rate of TRGO-1100 (with highest reduction degree) modified ABC exhibits highest H2O2 generation rate of 20.4 ± 0.8 mg/cm2/h and current efficiency of 94 ± 2%. The charge transfer resistance of TRGO-1100 decreases by 2.5-fold compared with pure graphite cathode. Unreduced GO shows high H2O2 selectivity and low ORR activity, while TRGO shows lower H2O2 selectivity but higher ORR activity. Though the 2e− ORR selectivity of TRGO decreased TRGO with all reduction degrees, the H2O2 production increased in all forming electrodes. Superior performance of TRGO modified ABCs is attributed to high oxygen adsorption and low charge transfer resistance. TRGO possesses super-hydrophobicity and large surface area for oxygen adsorption. Besides, TRGO provides abundant electrochemically active sites to facilitate the electron transfer and formed more mesopores for H2O2 release. Electro-Fenton using TRGO-1100-ABC exhibited great performance for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) degradation, which removed 66% of tetracycline in 5 min.

Multiple stabilization roles of thermally reduced graphene oxide for both thermo‐ and photo‐oxidation of polypropylene: deter, delay, and defend

AbstractEfficient stabilization strategies for polymeric materials are critical to guarantee them to withstand decades of service in multiple aggressive environments. Graphene oxide (GO) has been identified as a kind of promising antioxidant to improve the oxidative stability of polymers; however, a comprehensive understanding of the multifunctional stabilization mechanisms of GO for polymeric materials subjected to various weathering factors is still missing. Here, we explored the effect of the thermally reduced GO (TrGO) on the thermo‐ and photo‐oxidation of isotactic polypropylene (iPP), respectively. The addition of TrGO could simultaneously suppress the thermo‐ and photo‐oxidation of iPP, and the stabilization effects became stronger with increasing TrGO content. While similar carbonyl species were formed under both thermo‐oxidation and photo‐oxidation of iPP, the proportion of ketone was much higher under thermal‐oxidation. The incorporation of TrGO did not change the proportion of the degradation products under thermo‐oxidation; however, the proportion of lactone was risen under photo‐oxidation, suggesting a different degradation mechanism. Versatile stabilization mechanisms of TrGO were further revealed by UV–Vis spectroscopy and oxygen permeability tests, which were related to the extraordinary ability of TrGO in the block of UV light (deter), suppression of oxygen diffusion (delay), and scavenging of free radicals (defend). In this contribution, we clearly demonstrated different multifunctional and synergistic stabilization functions of TrGO for thermo‐ and photo‐oxidation respectively, which shall be useful for the practical design of next‐generation GO‐based stabilizers with superior efficiency.

Synthesis of Nickel Spinel Ferrites Nanoparticles Coated with Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide for EMI Shielding in the Microwave, UV, and NIR Regions.

The co-precipitation and in situ modified Hummers’ method was used to synthesize Nickel Spinal Ferrites (NiFe) nanoparticles and NiFe coated with Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide (TRGO) (NiFe-TRGO) nanoparticles, respectively. By using polyvinyl chloride (PVC), tetrahydrofuran (THF), and NiFe-TRGO, the nanocomposite film was synthesized using the solution casting technique with a thickness of 0.12–0.13 mm. Improved electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency was obtained in the 0.1–20 GHz frequency range. The initial assessment was done through XRD for the confirmation of the successful fabrication of nanoparticles and DC conductivity. The microstructure was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy. The EMI shielding was observed by incorporating a filler amount varying from 5 wt.% to 40 wt.% in three different frequency regions: microwave region (0.1 to 20 GHz), near-infrared (NIR) (700–2500 nm), and ultraviolet (UV) (200–400 nm). A maximum attenuation of 65 dB was observed with a 40% concentration of NiFe-TRGO in nanocomposite film.

Novel Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide Microsupercapacitor Fabricated via Mask-Free AxiDraw Direct Writing.

We demonstrate a simple method to fabricate all solid state, thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) microsupercapacitors (µ-SCs) prepared using the atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) and a mask-free axiDraw sketching apparatus. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) shows the extermination of oxygen functional groups as the reducing temperature (RT) increases, while the Raman shows the presence of the defect and graphitic peaks. The electrochemical performance of the µ-SCs showed cyclic voltammetry (CV) potential window of 0–0.8 V at various scan rates of 5–1000 mVs−1 with a rectangular shape, depicting characteristics of electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) behavior. The µ-SC with 14 cm−2 (number of digits per unit area) showed a 46% increment in capacitance from that of 6 cm−2, which is also higher than the µ-SCs with 22 and 26 cm−2. The TRGO-500 exhibits volumetric energy and power density of 14.61 mW h cm−3 and 142.67 mW cm−3, respectively. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed the decrease in the equivalent series resistance (ESR) as a function of RT due to reduction of the resistive functional groups present in the sample. Bode plot showed a phase angel of −85° for the TRGO-500 µ-SC device. The electrochemical performance of the µ-SC devices can be tuned by varying the RT, number of digits per unity area, and connection configuration (parallel or series).

Chemiresistor sensor based on ion-imprinted polymer (IIP)-functionalized rGO for Cd(II) ions in water

This study reports the design and development of a novel chemiresistor (CR) sensor using ion imprinted polymer (IIP)-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) [IIP/rGO-CR] for cadmium ions (Cd(II)) determination in water. The sensor consisted of a CR transducer made of rGO channel bridging source and drain electrodes prepared by self-assembly and thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) on Au interdigitated electrodes chip fabricated on Si/SiO2 substrate. The IIP was then grafted on rGO using surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization with polyethylenimine (PEI) and methylacrylic acid (MAA) as dual functional monomers and Cd(II) ions as template through UV light-initiated copolymerization. The IIP functionalized on rGO acted as an effective recognition element that modulated the resistance of rGO-CR upon binding of Cd(II), enabling Cd(II) detection at ppb level in aqueous solutions. The prepared IIP/rGO-CR sensor worked effectively in the linear range of 2～200 ppb and achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.83 ppb, which is lower than the World Health Organization guidelines of 3 ppb for drinking water quality. The developed sensor of IIP/rGO-CR showed a high selectivity against a variety of trace and heavy metal ions found in water and good stability for up to 60 days when stored at room temperature for Cd(II) determination in water. Further, the sensor was successfully applied to analyzing Cd(II) spiked in tap, lake and river waters with a 94.5%–113.5% recovery, demonstrating a high degree of accuracy even in complex water samples. Our results illustrated that the CR sensor of IIP functionalized rGO provides a potential platform for sensitive, robust and low-cost environmental analysis of Cd(II) in water.

Influence of Transition Metals (Cu and Co) on the Carbon-Coated Nickel Sulfide Used as Positive Electrode Material in Hybrid Supercapacitor Device

Herein, a facile, environment-friendly and cost-effective approach was followed for the preparation of metal sulfide-based supercapacitor electrodes. The effect of transition metal interrogation on the morphology and electrochemical performance of carbon-coated nickel sulfide composite electrode was investigated. Physicochemical characterization showed that the enhancement in electrical conductivity and electrochemical reaction sites with the introduction of copper (Cu) and cobalt (Co) was due to the variation in morphology. Fast ionic transformation and improvement in the number of redox active sites might improve the supercapacitor performance. The electrochemical experiment showed that the NCoSC electrode exhibited the highest capacitance value of ~760 F g−1 at 2 A g−1 current density as compared to the NCuSC and NSC electrodes. Therefore, a hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) device was fabricated by using NCoSC as the positive electrode and thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) as the negative electrode. The fabricated device demonstrated maximum energy density of ~38.8 Wh Kg−1 and power density of 9.8 kW Kg−1. The HSC device also showed ~89.5% retention in specific capacitance after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles at 12 A g−1 current density. So, the tuning of electronic and physical properties by the introduction of Cu and Co on nickel sulfide improved the supercapacitor performance.

Graphitization with Suppressed Carbon Loss for High-Quality Reduced Graphene Oxide

An efficient reduction method to obtain high-quality graphene sheets from mass-producible graphene oxide is highly desirable for practical applications. Here, we report an in situ deoxidation and graphitization mechanism for graphene oxide that allows for high-quality reduced graphene oxide sheets under the low temperature condition (<300 °C) by utilizing a well-known Fischer-Tropsch reaction catalyst (CuFeO2). By applying modified FTR conditions, where graphene oxide was reduced on the catalyst surface under the hydrogen-poor condition, deoxidation with much suppressed carbon loss was possible, resulting in high-quality graphene sheets. Our experimental data and density functional theory calculations proved that reduction which occurred on the CuFeO2 surface preferentially removed adsorbed oxygen atoms in graphene oxide sheets, leaving dissociated carbon structures to be restored to a near-perfect few-layer graphene sheet. TGA-mass data revealed that GO with catalysts released 92.8% less carbon-containing gases than GO without catalysts during the reduction process, which suggests that this process suppressed carbon loss in graphene oxide sheets, leading to near-perfect graphene. The amount of oxygen related to the epoxide group in the basal plane of GO significantly decreased to near zero (from 43.84 to 0.48 at. %) in catalyst-assisted reduced graphene oxide (CA-rGO). The average domain size and the density of defects of CA-rGO were 4 times larger and 0.1 times lower than those for thermally reduced graphene oxide (TrGO), respectively. As a result, CA-rGO had a 246 and 8 times lower electrical resistance than TrGO and CVD-graphene. With these performances, CA-rGO coated paper connected to a coin-cell battery successfully lit an LED bulb, and CA-rGO itself acted as an efficient catalyst for both the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction.