The Effect of Temperature on The Efficiency of The Reduction of Graphene Oxide

Kyeong-Won Park

Comparative spectroscopic and microscopic analyses of the oxygen content in oxygen-containing functional groups for graphene oxide and its reduced form are reported. The graphene oxide prepared by Hummers method using graphite flakes was used as a starting material. Reduced graphene oxide was obtained through the reduction of the graphene oxide sheets with hydrazine hydrate at room temperature and 98 °C. The comparison of the oxygen content and functionality before and after the reduction of graphene oxides at different temperatures were investigated by XRD, AFM, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy. The reduced graphene oxides showed much larger interlayer distances (1.36 nm at room temperature and 1.08 nm at 98 °C) than those of graphene oxide (0.87 nm) and graphite (0.34 nm). According to the overall oxygen analysis data, the reduction process at 98 °C was more efficient than that of room temperature: however the epoxy- and carboxylic groups were completely removed at both temperatures.