Highly soluble polyetheramine-functionalized graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide both in aqueous and non-aqueous solvents

Abstract

Among many methods to synthesize graphene, solution-based processing provides many advantages owing to its low cost, high productivity, chemical versatility, and scalability. In particular, graphene oxide (GO) is one of the most promising nanocarbons that enable the incorporation of graphene and related materials into bulk materials and nanocomposites. GO has hydrophilic nature that enables straightforward dispersion in aqueous solution by sonication, but GO show poor dispersibility in common organic solvents, which prevent much wider applications such as solution-mixing polymer nanocomposites. Here we prepared highly soluble, functionalized GO in both aqueous and non-aqueous solvents. This was achieved by reacting polyetheramine consisting of amphiphilic components, e.g., polypropylene oxide and polyethylene oxide, with carboxylic acid groups at GO edges. Moreover, the reduced GO (rGO) was also highly dispersible in aqueous solution as well as non-aqueous solutions. These functionalized GO and rGO can be used for many solution-processed graphene composites.