Green synthesis of graphene oxide by seconds timescale water electrolytic oxidation

Abstract Graphene oxide is highly desired for printing electronics, catalysis, energy storage, separation membranes, biomedicine, and composites. However, the present synthesis methods depend on the reactions of graphite with mixed strong oxidants, which suffer from explosion risk, serious environmental pollution, and long-reaction time up to hundreds of hours. Here, we report a scalable, safe and green method to synthesize graphene oxide with a high yield based on water electrolytic oxidation of graphite. The graphite lattice is fully oxidized within a few seconds in our electrochemical oxidation reaction, and the graphene oxide obtained is similar to those achieved by the present methods. We also discuss the synthesis mechanism and demonstrate continuous and controlled synthesis of graphene oxide and its use for transparent conductive films, strong papers, and ultra-light elastic aerogels.