Graphene nanosheets synthesis via chemical reduction of graphene oxide using sodium acetate trihydrate solution

The synthesis of chemically reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (RGO) from graphite oxide commonly involves some harmful chemical reductants that are undesirable for most practical applications of graphene. An easy and environment friendly approach has been developed to reduce graphene oxide (GO) by using sodium acetate trihydrate as a reductant. The as-prepared RGO was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results show that GO was reduced to few-layers level with poor dispersion in water. A mechanism for removing of epoxy and hydroxyl groups from GO with sodium acetate trihydrate has been proposed. Considering that all the raw materials used are low cost, nontoxic and widely available, this approach may open up the new possibility for cost-effective, environment friendly and large-scale production of graphene.