AFM analysis on GOgraphene Graphene Oxide
AFM (atomic force microscopy) analysis has now been completed on GOgraphene graphene oxide. The AFM analysis was carried out to investigate both the lateral sheet dimensions and sheet depth, with the intention of discovering how many layers GOgraphene graphene oxide flakes are.
Diluting a sample of our 10 mg/mL aqueous graphene oxide dispersion down to a 1 ppm dispersion, it has been possible to measure the graphene oxide sheet sizes. The high dilution allows the AFM to measure fully dispersed material, without the individual flakes overlapping and consequently leading to more accurate dimensions for fully dispersed sheets.
The lateral dimensions of the plates varied, with the majority of flakes consistently over 5 microns in at least one lateral dimension. This corresponds very well with the SEM images obtained previously which showed lateral dimensions of over 5 microns. While there is currently no industry standard for understanding what the optimal graphene oxide sheet size is, GOgraphene graphene oxide is manufacturing a consistent quality product.
The AFM analysis is of particular interest for understanding the sheet depth. Single layers of graphene oxide are just over 1 nm tall, with greater depths informing the analyst approximately how many layers are stacked on top of one another. A few sheets stacked on top of one another can indicate that the graphene oxide is not fully dispersed into monolayers or that the graphite was not completely oxidised to enable all single layers to form. The AFM analysis on GOgraphene graphene oxide has shown a sheet depth of around 2 nm, proving that the individual flakes are only two graphene oxide sheets tall.
This is an exciting new piece of data for the GOgraphene range which really proves the 2 dimensional nature of graphene oxide. Data collection on our graphene oxide will continue over the coming months, however if there is analysis on our products which isn’t listed on our site yet and you feel it would benefit your research, please get in touch via our enquiry form and we will look into this.
