Tractable Synthesis of Graphene Oxide by Electrochemical Exfoliation Method

The aim of this work is electrochemical exfoliation of pyrolytic graphite for mass production of few-layer oxygen-functional graphene, commonly known as graphene oxide (GO). It is synthesized by intercalation of graphite sheets in the 1 M concentration of nitric acid electrolyte by application of positive bias. The voltage is gradually increased with an increment of 0.5 V up to 8 V and an interval of 3 min. The X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to GO ((001) plane) and graphene sheet ((002) plane) were observed at 2θ positions of 26.35° and 13.56° respectively. The morphology of as-synthesized GO is characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The transparent layers of GO are observed in transmission electron microscopy. AFM topography revealed that the thickness of the few-layer GO nanosheets are in the range of 3–5 nm only. The hexagonal ring structure of GO sheets was identified by selected area diffracted pattern. Through FTIR studies, the presence of functional groups of O–H and C–O has been identified. The synthesized material can be used as a base material for the future applications such as desalination of sea water, supercapacitors, sensors, solar cells, and coatings.