Rapid Synthesis of Yellow Graphite Oxide - One-Step Electrochemical Oxidation of Graphite in Organic Solvents

Andreas Schedy^1, , Beau Matyas¹ and Marco Oetken¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Physics, Technology and their teaching methodologies, University of Education Freiburg, Kunzenweg 21, 79117 Freiburg im Breisgau, German

Cite this paper

Andreas Schedy, Beau Matyas and Marco Oetken. Rapid Synthesis of Yellow Graphite Oxide - One-Step Electrochemical Oxidation of Graphite in Organic Solvents. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2019; 7(2):109-119. doi: 10.12691/WJCE-7-2-11

Abstract

Graphite oxide is the intermediate in the synthesis of the so-called "miracle material" of the 21st century, graphene. The synthesis of highly oxidized, yellow graphite oxide is hitherto only possible via partially toxic and explosive wet-chemical processes. Therefore, the implementation of the topic graphene in school and university lessons was not possible. Due to the existing risks and the long synthesis time, the currently prevalent synthesis methods of graphite oxide are a major problem not only for teaching but also for scientific research. The authors present a novel electrochemical synthesis process of highly oxidized, yellow graphite oxide, which completely avoids the use of corrosive or toxic substances. The synthesis time is only a few minutes and the preparation of the material can be easily carried out. Therefore, Graphene can now be easily synthesized and taught in school and university.

Keywords

graphene, graphene oxide, structure-property relationships

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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