Ultrasound Assisted Green Synthesis and Characterization of Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by an improved green chemical method using graphite flakes, KMnO4, a mixture of H2SO4/H3PO4, H2O2 and HCl. In several stages, ultrasound was used to separate the oxidized layers of GO. The use of ultrasound optimizes the effect of the reacting agents, decreasing the required amounts of used chemicals. This method produces graphene oxide highly oxidized with greater interlayer spacing over the Hummers’ method without producing toxic gases. The final product was characterized by UV-VIS, XRD, optical microscopy, TEM and Raman Spectroscopy and all used techniques verified the desirable outcome. The results showed that this low cost method is fully scalable without producing undesirable environmental effects.