Studies on graphene oxide reduced graphene oxide and their applications

Abstract

Graphene is a two dimensional sheet made up of sp2 bonded carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice It exhibits interesting thermal mechanical electrical and optical properties Graphene is synthesized by several methods like chemical vapor deposition epitaxial growth on silicon newlinecarbide and the reduction of graphene oxide Graphene oxide is obtained by strong oxidation of natural flake graphite Graphene oxide is used for the cost efficient large scale production of graphene and reduced graphene oxide The reduction of graphene oxide is carried out by using reducing agents like sodium borohydride hydrazine hydrate and hydroquinone The byproducts of these processes are extremely polluting and toxic There is a need to find non-polluting and environmentally friendly reducing agents that are capable of reducing graphene oxide in a mild manner Studies have focused on the use of plant extracts vitamins proteins amino acids etc for the reduction of graphene oxide Bacterial biomass has also been used to synthesize reduced graphene oxide in a mild aqueous environment at room temperature Soneidensis and Ecoli have been used for this purpose Bacterial cells during exponential growth phase showed an overabundance of proteins DNA RNA small molecules phospholipids reducing factors and polysaccharide which can cause reduction of graphene oxide. newline newline