Preparation of Graphite Oxide by Sodium Cholate Intercalation and Sonication from Indonesian Natural Graphite

Graphite oxide is widely use in renewable energy application such as solar cells, fuel-cells, battery electrodes, catalyst support, etc. This paper reports the preparation of graphite oxide from Indonesian natural graphite by sodium cholate intercalation. The enrichment process of as received graphite with carbon content of 60% was carried out by using acid leaching (HF) method. The enrichment process successfully obtained graphite with carbon content 95.61% with contaminant minerals observed by EDS were magnesium and aluminum. Purified graphite was then intercalated by sodium cholate at various concentration and sonication time. The XRD results shows that preparation with concentration of sodium cholate 2 Wt.% and sonication 10 hours formed a peak characteristic of graphite oxide at 2 theta=15 degrees. In addition, the successful oxidation process designated by the C/O ratio of 15.75 observed from EDS and supported by the present of functional C-H and C-O obtained from the FTIR observation. It is concluded that the graphite oxide successfully prepared by intercalation using sodium cholate and sonication.