Thermal Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Organic Solvents for Producing Colloidal Suspensions of Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets

Abstract

A new method for preparing graphene colloidal suspension is studied by thermal reducing graphene oxide in N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and γ-Butyrolactone (GBL) at 200°. Without assistance of polymeric or surfactant stabilizers, thermal reduction and dispersion of reduced graphene sheets are performed in one pot, and stable suspensions are confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) technic. Experimental results such as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman indicate bulk cleavage of oxygen-containing functional groups and restoration of graphite structure on reduced graphene oxide sheets. The study contributes to the preparation of graphene-based nanocomposites using this quick and low-cost processing technique.

Keywords:

• Graphene oxide
• thermal reduction
• organic solvents

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51273065).