Optimization of Oxidation Time During Graphene Oxide Production

Graphene oxide (GO) consists of one or several stacked graphene structures equipped with various functional groups. It has applications in many areas such as biomaterials, energy storage. sensors and photocatalytic degradation thanks to its high surface area, adjustable band gap and dispersibility in various solvents. Although there are various production techniques for GO synthesis, Improved Hummer’s Method stands out with its high efficiency and controllable production parameters. In this method, graphite is oxidized after intercalation with various acids and GO is obtained by exfoliation in the next stages. The effects of production parameters such as oxidation time, oxidant type, oxidant amount, drying processes are generally investigated in Hummer's method. In this study, the effect of oxidation time on GO structure was investigated. In this context, GO was synthesized with various oxidation times by using Modified Hummer's Method. Then, the structural and optical properties of GO were investigated by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Visible Light spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). The results showed that there is an optimum oxidation time for the oxidation degree of GO structure.