Synthesis of Nanosheets Graphene oxide and Characterization of Structural and Optical Properties

Having unique properties, interesting for both fundamental science and applications, two dimensional nanostructures such as graphene oxide (GO) are at the center of an ever growing research effort. The development of industrial-scale, reliable and inexpensive production processes has always been considered to be a key requirement for taking advantage of GO properties and applications. This work provides a detailed explanation of synthesizinggraphene oxide (GO) via the Modified Hummer’s approach using graphite powders as the precursors. Investigation on the Optical and Structural properties of the final products were also conducted by UV-Vis – ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and XRD – X-ray powder diffraction. The maximum absorption peak at ~240 nm can be observed clearly in the UV-Vis spectra of the synthesized GO, and a 2θ of11.72° can be seen from the XRD results which also reveal that the interlayer spacing between GO nanosheets equals to 0.75 nm. Moreover, FT-IR yields the oxidation of graphite with strong oxidants, such as oxygen atoms, being introduced into the graphite layers

Keywords:

Graphene oxide , Modified Hummer’s method , Oxidation , Characterization