Description

Description and Specifications of Reduced Graphene Oxide

The Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is the result of accurate processing of the innovative material known as graphene. It enables to get the best quality graphene sheets. The carbon to oxygen ration (C/O) of rGO is higher as compared to the graphene oxide, where it contains a least oxidized carbon atoms. It is highly conductive to the electricity and heat. We produce rGo in a powder, flakes, and film form. We also functionalized it as per the necessary application. The rGO has high aspect ration, porosity, and electro-sorption capacity.

How is rGO made?

Graphene oxide is the result of combining carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules using an extensive chemical process. The process involves treating graphite with strong oxidizers (sulfuric acid). The oxidizer reacts with graphite and removes an electron during the chemical reaction. An aforementioned chemical reaction, known as ‘REDOX’ (Reduction + Oxidization). It is designed to reduce the oxidizing agent while oxidizing the reactant.
Turning graphite into graphene oxide is a complicated process. The smaller-sized graphene platelets form due to the oxidation of graphite. These platelets contain tiny single-layered flakes and few multi-layered graphene pieces. Converting graphene oxide further into rGO for research or commercial use is a time-consuming and vital process.
There are several types of thermal, electrical or chemical methods that help to produce commercial rGO. Out of these, electrical reduction of graphene oxide is known to produce incredibly high-quality rGO. It majorly finds applications in research and development (R&D) and various commercial industries as well.
There are many organizations in the world are trying to develop a method for GO reduction. Generally, there are mainly three methods of reduction such as Chemical, Thermal, and Electrochemical reactions. There are various reducing agents as per necessity.

Here the different reduction process has distinct properties of reduced graphene oxide, ultimately which affect the performance of final applications.

a. Chemical Reduction Method

This method uses to produce rGO in a bulk amount, but it delivers material with a less and conductivity and surface area.

b. Thermal Reduction Method

The thermally reduced material is purer and results in the high surface area. Usually, this thermal reaction is carried out around 1000 degree Celsius. The overheating process may damage the basic structure and mechanical strength of the rGO.

c. Electrochemical Reduction Method

This method is the best method to manufacture rGO, where it gives a pure quality material which quite resembles the structural graphene. The product possessed a high surface area and conductivity. The only limitation of this process is, it is not a scalable method till now.

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