Water-soluble highly fluorinated graphite oxide

Water-soluble highly fluorinated graphite oxide is a promising candidate for applications in biosensing and for fluorescent probes due to its variable fluorescence properties. We report on a simple process for the preparation of a fluorinated graphite oxide (FGO). This process is based on fluorination of graphite oxide (GO) in a fluorine atmosphere at an elevated temperature and pressure. We used two different GO precursors, which were prepared by Staudenmaier and Hummers methods. The method of GO synthesis has a strong influence on the concentration of fluorine in the obtained product. The mechanism of GO fluorination is associated with the presence of reactive groups, mostly epoxides, and is accompanied by etching of graphite oxide. Our analyses highlighted that the FGO prepared by Hummers method contains a significantly higher amount of bounded fluorine and can be used as a starting material for the synthesis of chemically reduced fluorine doped graphene. Water soluble fluorinated graphene can be easily processed in aqueous solutions to create hydrophilic particles and films with tunable fluorescence properties.