Graphene oxide is an important graphene derivative, originally used as a precursor of macroscopic preparation of graphene. In recent years, graphene is more and more popular due to its unique physicochemical properties and broad application prospect. Due to the presence of a large number of oxygen-containing functional groups, graphene oxide has good dispersion in water, and easy to assemble and functionalization, it is widely used in the preparation of multi-functional separation membrane, high conductivity fibers, ultra-light super elastic aerogels And other functional materials, and in the electrochemical energy storage, catalytic, biomedical, composite materials, etc. have shown good prospects for application.
At present, graphene oxide is mainly prepared by stripping graphite oxide, and graphite oxide has been produced for more than 150 years now, whether it is the earliest Brodie method (1859) or later developed by Staudenmaier and Hummers Is based on the reaction of graphite with a large amount of concentrated nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, potassium permanganate and other strong oxidants to achieve not only the risk of explosion, but also serious pollution and long reaction period. Taking the most commonly used Hummers method as an example, Concentrated sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate. The typical mass ratio of graphite to graphite is 40: 3: 1 (concentrated sulfuric acid: potassium permanganate: graphite), and the reaction eventually produces over 1000 mass units of acidic wastewater. Also, highly active Mn 2 O 7 intermediates may explode at elevated temperatures, and the completion of the oxidation reaction can take hours to hundreds of hours.
Recently, the Advanced Carbon Materials Research Department of the National Research Center of Materials Science, Shenyang Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a new method for the electrolysis of water oxidation, breaking the traditional idea of oxidizing graphite by strong oxidants for more than 150 years, and achieved graphene oxide The method comprises the following steps of: firstly, intercalation graphite is intercalated in concentrated sulfuric acid and then the intercalated graphite is oxidized in dilute sulfuric acid, and oxygen isotope tracing and radical trapping experiments show that oxygen in the graphene oxide Elements mainly come from the water in the electrolyte, a large number of high-activity oxygen radicals produced by the electrolysis of water reacts with graphite to form graphene oxide .Sulfuric acid has almost no loss during the reaction and no other substances are generated and can be repeatedly used for electrochemical reaction The study also found that the oxidation rate of graphene oxide prepared by the electrolysis of water is more than 100 times faster than the existing method and the obtained material is similar to the existing method and is easy to be continuously prepared.The method effectively solves the problem that the preparation of graphene oxide has long been faced with Explosion danger, environmental pollution and long reaction period is expected to significantly reduce the cost of preparation, and promote the oxidation of fossil Ene industrial application.
Relevant research results published in "Nature - Communications", the relevant technology has applied for Chinese invention patents and PCT patents.The research has been the key research and development program of the Ministry of Science and Technology, NSFC outstanding youth fund, major projects, innovation group projects Funding.
