A facile preparation of reduced graphene oxide papers for electrode and adsorption applications

This research studied the fabrication of free-standing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) papers by chemical method and flame induced reduction approach. Graphene oxide (xGO) was first synthesized from graphite powder by modified Hummer's method and the subsequent exfoliation of graphite/graphite oxide via ultrasonication. The resulting free-standing xGO papers were stable and flexible but had low conductivity. As the oxygen functional groups on xGO were eliminated, using flame-induced reduction method, as-prepared rGO papers exhibited a smaller amount of oxygen functional groups and had a better electrical conductivity. In addition, due to their porous network structure, rGO papers possessed an enhanced adsorption capacity toward organic aqueous solutions, in comparison to xGO papers.