A General Route for Growing Metal Sulfides onto Graphene Oxide and Exfoliated Graphite Oxide

Abstract

Graphene-based materials are elective materials for a number of technologies due to their unique properties. Also, semiconductor nanocrystals have been extensively explored due to their size-dependent properties that make them useful for several applications. By coupling both types of materials, new applications are envisaged that explore the synergistic properties in such hybrid nanostructures. This research reports a general wet chemistry method to prepare graphene oxide (GO) sheets decorated with nanophases of semiconductor metal sulfides. This method allows the in situ growth of metal sulfides onto GO by using metal dialkyldithiocarbamate complexes as single-molecule precursors. In particular, the role of GO as heterogeneous substrate for the growth of semiconductor nanocrystals was investigated by using Raman spectroscopic and imaging methods. The method was further extended to other graphene-based materials, which are easily prepared in a larger scale, such as exfoliated graphite oxide (EGO).

Graphene@Metal Sulfide/Oxide Nanocomposites as Novel Photo‐Fenton‐like Catalysts for 4‐Nitrophenol Degradation

“…The intensity of the diffraction peak at 26.0° (attributed to S‐GF) decreases significantly after decorating the S‐GF with metal oxide/sulfide. In fact, it has been reported that the attachment of nanoparticles onto graphene oxide may prevent the restacking of suspended graphene sheets, which might explain these observations [61] …”

Graphene Oxide and Graphene Quantum Dots as Delivery Systems of Cationic Porphyrins: Photo-Antiproliferative Activity Evaluation towards T24 Human Bladder Cancer Cells

“…Two strong Raman bands were observed for GO and GQDs ( Figure 2 c): (i) the G band ( ca . 1600 cm −1 ), characteristic of a carbon network with sp 2 hybridization, arising mainly from the in-plane C-C deformations; (ii) the disorder-induced D band (around 1350 cm −1 ), activated by symmetry breaking at defects and edges of the graphene lattice, namely oxygen groups on sp 3 -carbon moieties [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Moreover, both GO and GQDs show a broad feature with low intensity at about 2500–3100 cm −1 , corresponding to 2D and combination bands, which is more pronounced for the GQDs sample, indicating a multilayered and disordered arrangement of the carbon nanosheets [ 38 , 41 , 42 ].…”

“…1600 cm −1 ), characteristic of a carbon network with sp 2 hybridization, arising mainly from the in-plane C-C deformations; (ii) the disorder-induced D band (around 1350 cm −1 ), activated by symmetry breaking at defects and edges of the graphene lattice, namely oxygen groups on sp 3 -carbon moieties [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Moreover, both GO and GQDs show a broad feature with low intensity at about 2500–3100 cm −1 , corresponding to 2D and combination bands, which is more pronounced for the GQDs sample, indicating a multilayered and disordered arrangement of the carbon nanosheets [ 38 , 41 , 42 ]. The average thickness of the individual GO flakes was found to be 1.5–1.9 nm (3 layers) by atomic force microscopy (AFM, Figure S11 ), while for GQDs the manufacturer indicated a 1–2.0 nm thickness (3–4 layers) [ 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

The controlled synthesis of complex hollow nanostructures and prospective applications

“…Metal sulfide hollow structures can also be obtained by employing a single-molecule approach that provides the metal and sulfide in a single precursor compound. Hence, Trindade et al have explored the liquid phase thermolysis of metal dialkyldithiocarbamates in the presence of several types of heterogeneous substrates in order to obtain metal sulfides deposited onto amorphous SiO 2 nanoparticles [93], TiO 2 particles [94], carbon nanotubes [95] and GO sheets [96]. This method can be extended to coat sacrificial templates (e.g.…”