Effect on the Formation of Magnetite Reduced Graphene Oxide with Controlled Stirring Duration

Abstract

Graphene is a promising material due to its fascinating properties, such as mechanical, electronic and thermal properties. Graphene based hybrids materials also have been widely studied due to its wide applications, such as sensors, energy storage and conversion, electronic device and others. The current study presents the synthesis of magnetite-reduced graphene oxide (M-rGO) nanocomposites through in situ chemical synthesis at different stirring durations. This synthesis process involves the redox reaction between the iron(II) salts and graphene oxide (GO) sheets. Various techniques were employed to characterize the synthesized M-rGO nanocomposites. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) results, the crystal structure of M-rGO was found to be independent on the stirring duration. Three magnetite vibrations, D band and G band were observed in Raman spectrum of M-rGO with 24 hours stirring duration. From Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, M-rGO with 24 hours stirring duration showed the strong intensity of Fe-O vibration. Thus, this indicated that a large amount of magnetite nanoparticles were covered on the surface of rGO sheets. This result is further supported by the morphology of nanocomposites from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the elemental analysis (EDX). A monolayer of rGO sheet (C= 33.79 atomic %) with full coverage of magnetite nanoparticles (Fe= 30.20 atomic %) was found for the M-rGO with 24 hours stirring duration. Overall, M-rGO require 24 hours of continuous stirring to ensure full coverage of magnetite nanoparticles on the surface of rGO sheets.