Facile covalent functionalization of graphene oxide using microwaves: bottom-up development of functional graphitic materials

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) exfoliated sheets were used as two dimensional platforms to covalently tether on their surface thousands of optically active quaterthiophene molecules (T4), using an innovative microwave-assisted silanization reaction. This method allowed to perform GO functionalization in one-step, under mild conditions in a few tens of minutes rather than days. The hybrid GOT4 could be processed in either H 2 O or apolar organic solvents and deposited as single sheets, microplatelets or macroscopic membranes. Absorption/emission spectroscopy reveals that GOT4 combines limited T4-T4 interactions with strong T4-GO ones. These findings, combined with the 'user-friendly' engineering approach presented here, pave the way towards the bottom-up fabrication of new GO-based tailored materials for electronics, sensors and biological applications.

Functionalized Graphene Nanocomposites

“…From the chemical point of view, the presence of oxygen functionalities at graphene oxide surface is very interesting since they provide reactive sites for chemical modification using known carbon surface chemistry. In this frame graphene oxide, because of its easier production and dispersion as well as simple chemical functionalization if compared to graphene, is emerging as a versatile material for applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology (Melucci, Treossi et al 2010). This chapter addresses the preparation, characterization and potential applications of graphene-based nanocomposites prepared using chemical strategies, which have been particularly relevant in our research group at TEMA.…”

Structural reinforcement and failure analysis in composite nanofibers of graphene oxide and gelatin

“…Graphene oxide (GO) can be obtained in large quantities by chemical oxidation of graphite and processed efficiently in different solvents as single sheets with lateral size tunable from 100 m to 100 nm, and with a nearly 100% yield of monolayers [17,18]; Furthermore, GO can be functionalized in different ways to enhance its interaction with other molecules and with the surrounding environment [19,20], displaying high Young's modulus, hardness and flexibility [21]. Whilst the positive effect of GO nanofillers has been proved for different composite systems [22-24.…”

Facile synthesis of graphene by pyrolysis of poly(methyl methacrylate) on nickel particles in the confined microzones

“…4c shows the FTIR spectra of the purified product obtained by pyrolysis of PMMA at high temperature. The characteristic intense peak at 1585 cm À1 ascribed to the C5 5C stretching mode of the sp 2 C network demonstrates the existence of graphene structure [34,35]. A small C5 5O stretching at 1724 cm À1 derived from the original precursor is apparent in the FTIR spectrum.…”