The products of thermally exfoliating graphite oxide to make graphene are much more complex than previously thought, new research shows. The volatile compounds formed vary with reaction conditions, and may influence the graphene’s structure.
The most common way to prepare graphene is by thermally reducing – or ‘exfoliating’ – graphite oxide. But the graphene produced often contains defects and lacks the perfect honeycomb structure. One explanation is that these defects may be the result of organic by-products forming and escaping as gases during the reaction.
Interested to know more? Read the full article by Emma Stoye in Chemistry World here…
Complex organic molecules are released during thermal reduction of graphite oxides
Zdeněk Sofer, Petr Šimek and Martin Pumera
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP51189H
