ScholarWorks@UNO

Graphene Oxide Nanostructures

Graphene is the 2-D allotrope of carbon with hexagonal lattice packing structure. It is a very effective carrier of heat and electricity, has exceptional strength (~207 times than steel), impermeability and flexibility. Under certain conditions, grapheme oxide sheets can be separated and individually scrolled to form nanoscroll structures. / / My research is mainly focused on development and optimization of hydrothermal synthesis method for grapheme oxide nanoscrolls. Though hydrothermal synthesis is a very time and energy efficient method of nanomaterial synthesis, up till now very little research has been done on it. Graphene oxide sheets are synthesized from Graphite by using the Modified Hummer’s Method, which basically involves oxidation and filtration of expanded graphite. Clusters of graphene oxide sheets were observed in the SEM images. Firstly, graphene oxide nanoscrolls were synthesized by the evaporation method and two different syntheses were done using THF (Tetrahydrofuran) and DMF (Dimethylformamide) as individual solvents. The scrolling of graphene oxide sheets was observed in the SEM images. Thereafter, seven different syntheses of hydrothermal method were conducted. The components in the reaction mixture were: filtered graphene oxide, THF and DI water. Additionally, aluminum sulphate and TBAOH were added in some of the syntheses to enchance the scrolling of the nanosheets. The reaction mixture was stirred and put into an autoclave and then heated under variant temperature conditions (ranging from 500C to 1200C), and variant time frames (6 to 12 hours). / / The study of the TEM images of the result showed the formation of some fully scrolled nanosheets ranging from 10nm to 20nm, some semi scrolled edges, along with some clusters of nanosheets. Further improvements and optimization of this method can be successful in producing high quality graphene oxide nanoscrolls in mass amount.