News — Graphene Oxide Analysis

Recently, our GOgraphene powder was characterised by Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR). In these measurements, infrared light is passed into an ATR crystal to reflect against the sample with a short penetration depth to minimise noise in the spectrum as graphene oxide is a 2D material. The material is then scanned over several angles of incidence and the refracted beam is detected to give the spectra across 600-4000 cm^-1. The peaks shown in the spectrum indicate the characteristic bond vibrations between elements in the sample. For more information, please visit our analytical data page.

If there is any additional information on FTIR, or other analytical data that you feel would be beneficial for your research, please get in touch through our enquiry form and one of the GOgraphene team will be in touch.

Raman spectroscopy has been used to prove William Blythe's graphene oxide readily disperses into monolayers.

Raman spectroscopy is a well-known and very common technique for the analysis of graphene related materials. By assessing the position, intensity and ratios of the D and G peaks, it is possible to learn a lot about the material in question. Useful information from raman spectroscopy include the level of oxidation and whether the graphene oxide is present as single, double or few layer material. The ratio of the D and G peak intensities (ID/IG) can be used to estimate the distance between defects, where the term defects refers to disruption in the bonding structure observed for pristine graphene. When analysing graphene oxide, the number of defects is expected to be high as each oxygen functional group on the surface increases the amount of sp3 hybridisation and therefore reduces sp2 hybridisation.

Recent raman spectroscopy carried out on William Blythe’s graphene oxide proved that the material was fully oxidised with an ID/IG ratio of about 1, which is fairly typical for graphene oxide. An estimation of the number of layers present can be given by comparing the area of the D and G peaks to the area of the silicon substrate peak (ca 950 cm-1). Coupling with an SEM image and applying false colour, it has been possible to illustrate the presence of large quantities of single layer graphene oxide. While some 2 layer and 3+ layer material is present, based on the flake shapes and the nature of spin coating, it is thought that these areas are more likely to be flake overlaps rather than multilayer graphene oxide.

The raman analysis carried out on William Blythe’s graphene oxide shows that the graphene oxide manufactured readily exfoliates into monolayers in aqueous dispersions. This has previously been indicated by the ease of dilution. If you have any questions about this analysis or how you can incorporate graphene oxide into your work, please get in touch.

Did you know that the GOgraphene team are starting a newsletter, dedicated to bringing graphene oxide news and research straight to your inbox?

The GOgraphene team are always researching new aspects of their graphene oxide products, carrying out work from additional analysis to developing new derivatives and product offerings. To generate the most relevant data from their products, ensuring their research is focussed on developing real benefits to the product range, the GOgraphene team dedicate time to literature searches. With research around graphene related materials so diverse, the number of research groups working with graphene oxide is phenomenal. As a result, a huge volume of academic papers are published each month on the potential use and benefits of graphene related materials. While considering multiple application sectors, the GOgraphene team therefore read many fascinating papers on the real-world applications we might expect to see graphene oxide used in over the coming years. The GOgraphene team recently decided that their online blog would be the ideal place to start sharing some of the papers they had found the most interesting. Based on the positive feedback, GOgraphene have decided to launch a newsletter, linking all those subscribed to a selection of GOgraphene’s recent news and favourite research. The newsletter will cover a variety of topics, ranging from interesting research the team have come across through to research and product information developed by the GOgraphene team.

The first newsletter will be released in April, to sign up click here, scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email address.

The GOgraphene team have added a new Graphene Oxide Analysis page to the webshop

There are currently no industry standards for analysing graphene related materials, however as the volume of research surrounding this exciting family of two dimensional materials grows, best practises for analysis are emerging. In order to provide the most relevant information to GOgraphene customers, William Blythe has worked extensively to gather high quality analysis using the techniques most appropriate to characterise the graphene oxide materials manufactured at their site in the UK.

Previously, William Blythe has communicated new graphene oxide analysis via the blog and in the specification of the products available online. To make this information easier to access, a new Graphene Oxide Analysis page has been added to the GOgraphene site. Information currently available on the page includes XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), AFM (atomic force microscopy), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) on typical batches of their graphene oxide products. Wherever possible, the results are backed up with visual representations of the analysis, generally in the form of the raw data obtained by William Blythe on their products. The intention of this page is to provide GOgraphene customers with direct access to the most up-to date information on the products they are purchasing. As new analysis is obtained by William Blythe on their products, new entries will be added to the page and any existing information will be updated if new data becomes available. Any new additions to the Graphene Oxide Analysis page will be communicated via the GOgraphene blog, with all entries on the Graphene Oxide Analysis page entered in alphabetical order to make navigation to the data easier.

William Blythe intends to support the development of commercial applications for graphene oxide materials by working with customers. If you have any questions about the analytical results displayed on this site, or would like the GOgraphene team to consider carrying out other characterisation techniques on their products, please get in touch and a member of the team will be happy to discuss your needs further.