Reduction of a Single Layer Graphene Oxide Film on Pt(111)

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that annealing a single-layer graphene oxide film on Pt(111) in ultrahigh vacuum can completely remove oxygen and restore a high-quality graphene lattice, offering a new synthesis method.

Contribution

It introduces a novel reduction technique for GO films on Pt(111) that achieves complete oxygen removal and lattice restoration without mechanical exfoliation.

Findings

Complete oxygen removal confirmed by XPS.

Honeycomb lattice observed via STM.

Long-range order in graphene lattice achieved.

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) is one of chemically modified graphenes and has been extensively studied worldwide. A monolayer sheet of GO which is chemically produced in solution can be deposited on various substrates. We have proved that use of graphite powder with a large grain size enables preparation of a single layer GO film that is larger than 100 micrometers easily and reproducibly. If it is possible to reduce the GO film completely, one can obtain graphene without mechanical exfoliation. However, the reduction methods employed so far have been insufficient to remove oxygen or to restore the long range order in graphene lattice. In the present work we annealed the GO sheet which was placed on Pt(111) in ultrahigh vacuum. The STM observation of the annealed specimen reveals that a honeycomb lattice appears together with moire structures of long range ordering. The XPS result indicated complete removal of oxygen from the GO sheet. These results would open a new way to synthesize a high quality graphene film, which replaces the conventional CVD method.