Paper GR+NS-MoA6
Structural Evolution during the Reduction of Chemically Derived Graphene Oxide

Monday, October 18, 2010, 3:40 pm, Room Brazos

large-scale production, but established procedures (such as mechanical exfoliation or chemical vapour deposition) are not

ideal for the manufacture of processable graphene sheets. An alternative method is the reduction of graphene oxide, a

material that shares the same atomically thin structural framework as graphene, but bears oxygen-containing functional

groups. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations to study the atomistic structure of progressively reduced graphene

oxide. The chemical changes of oxygen-containing functional groups on the annealing of graphene oxide are elucidated and

the simulations reveal the formation of highly stable carbonyl and ether groups that hinder its complete reduction to

graphene. The calculations are supported by infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Finally, more

effective reduction treatments to improve the reduction of graphene oxide are proposed [1].

[1] Akbar Bagri, Cecilia Mattevi, Muge Acik, Yves J. Chabal, Manish Chhowalla and

Vivek B. Shenoy, Nature Chemistry (in press, 2010).