Synthesis and characterization of nanohybrid materials based on the sulfonated graphene oxide decorated by silver nanoparticles

In this paper, nanohybrid materials were developed by the decoration of the support material, currently called graphene oxide (GO). These materials were further functionalized and decorated with sulfonic and silver, respectively. The functionalization process involves a covalent and non-covalent linking in which the chemical sulfonation and solvothermal reactions are implicated, respectively. The structure of the graphene oxide (GO) was used as the starting material to develop sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO), sulfonated non-reduced and reduced graphene oxide in which the silver nanoparticles (SGOAg, SrGOAg) were incorporated. These materials were identified using different characterization techniques. The TEM images and x-ray spectra confirmed the high degree of oxidation despite the decrease of the crystallite size. The TEM images also showed a uniform distribution of the silver nanoparticles on the surface of GO sheets. Furthermore, FTIR, XRF and TGA confirmed the linking of the sulfonic groups to the surface of GO. These new materials were as well characterized by atomic force microcopy (AFM), which was used to explore the morphological states of SGOAg and SrGOAg samples. The solubility and stability of these nanomaterials in water were estimated via zeta potential analyses.