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Graphene oxide: the mechanisms of oxidation and exfoliation

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Abstract

Graphene oxides (GOs) with large sheets and more perfect aromatic structure were prepared by a novel modified Hummers method. We demonstrated that the graphite did not need to be oxidized to such a deep degree as described in Hummers method because the space distance increased little when the oxidation proceeded to a certain extent and the obtained graphite oxides (GTOs) could be fully exfoliated to single layers with high thermal stability. The oxidation mechanism and chemical structure model of GO were proposed by analyzing the evolution of the functional groups with oxidation proceeded based on thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The layer spacing calculated by molecular dynamics simulations coincided with the X-ray diffraction results. Furthermore, the size distribution and thickness of GOs were also studied. The results confirmed that the GOs prepared by the modified method were fully exfoliated to uniform single layers, and this method may be important for efficient exfoliation of GTO to GO and large-scale production of graphene.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support of this work by the National Basic Research Program of China (“973 Program”, Grant Nos.: 2011CB605602 and 2011CB605603) and the Cultivation Fund of the Key Scientific and Technical Innovation Project, Ministry of Education of China are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Guilin Shao, Yonggen Lu, Fangfang Wu, Fanlong Zeng & Qilin Wu

  2. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Changling Yang

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  1. Guilin Shao
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  2. Yonggen Lu
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  3. Fangfang Wu
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  4. Changling Yang
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  5. Fanlong Zeng
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Correspondence to Yonggen Lu.

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Shao, G., Lu, Y., Wu, F. et al. Graphene oxide: the mechanisms of oxidation and exfoliation. J Mater Sci 47, 4400–4409 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-6294-5

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