Optimisation of graphene oxide synthesis and characterisation

Graphene oxide (GO) membranes, formed from compacted flakes of graphene oxide, have a wide range of applications including for healthcare technologies, nanofluidics and nanofiltration [1-3]. Critical to the material’s performance and behaviour in these applications is the relative amount of carbon and oxygen present throughout the membrane with just small changes in this ratio significantly altering its properties. Hence, in order to understand the C/O ratio of GO, and control it for a particular application, a reliable method for accurately quantifying the amount of each element is required. The work presented here will discuss a methodology to evaluate the C/O ratio of GO produced via different variations of the established Hummers’ method [4]. While Hummers’ method is the accepted method of GO synthesis, a host of variations exist. Here, the effects of pre and post treatment during GO synthesis will be analysed. Results from characterisation using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Raman spectroscopy, amongst other techniques, will be presented and discussed. From these results, the effects of gas expansion and hydrogen peroxide in the GO synthesis will be explored with a view to establishing an optimised procedure.



[1] P. D. Bentley et al., AIP Advances 11, 025314 (2021)

[2] K. G. Zhou et al. Nature 559, 236 (2018)

[3] Q. Yang et al., Nature Mater. 16, 1198 (2017)

[4] W. S. Hummers et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society 80 (6): 1339 (1958)