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Direct and Indirect Phototransformation of Graphene Oxide in Sunlight
Citation:
Hou, W., I. Chowdhury, D. Goodwin, Matt Henderson, H. Fairbrother, D. Bouchard, AND R. Zepp. Direct and Indirect Phototransformation of Graphene Oxide in Sunlight. Presented at 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco, CA, August 11 - 14, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
Presented at the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, CA.
Description:
Direct and indirect (with added H202 that serves as OH precursor) photoreactions of grapheme oxide (GO) were examined under sunlight exposure. The results indicate that GO photoreacts under both conditions, leading to significant alterations in GO's physicochemical properties. In particular, photoreaction with added H202 produces noticeably decreased size, loss (-85%) of aqueous organic carbon content, and color bleaching. To a lesser extent, similar photochemical effects were observed in the absence of added H202, except that the color of GO oppositely increased. Photoproduct studies using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and FTIR reveal a monotonic reduction in the oxygen-containing functionalities with increased irradiation time -- particularly the C-OH and C-0-C groups -- in samples reacted with or without H202. These results suggest that sunlight photoreaction is likely a key process controlling the environmental persistence of GO and that the photoproducts may have distinctly different transport and biological properties from the parent material.
