XRD/XPS study on oxidation of graphite

A comparative study on the formation process of graphite oxide (GO) prepared both from natural graphite (NG) and expandable graphite (EG) was accomplished by XRD and XPS techniques. It reveals that expandable graphite, a graphitic intercalated compound (GIC), can have easy access to an interlayer oxidation leading to higher extent of oxidation within shortened time interval. An XPS study on GO surface shows a complicate chemistry. Much more involved is the dominated graphitic carbon accumulated on the surface accompanied with a variety of oxygen-containing functional groups along with oxidation. The bonding state in the surface is mostly in control of the single bond linkage, C-O.