Chemical Modification of Graphene via A Potassium Graphite Intercalation Approach

Graphene is frequently termed a ‘wonder material’ due to its excellent properties and potential for use in a broad range of applications. Key to the realization of graphene in various applications is surface modification. The aim of the work was to investigate a facile approach to functionalize graphene with various functional groups for specific applications. To this aim, a graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) approach was introduced to activate graphene layers. In the first study, two kinds of natural graphite were used for preparation of potassium GICs. Raman spectroscopy and Powder XRD were used to investigate the quality of prepared GICs. It was found the GICs prepared from 325 mesh graphite possessed a higher order of intercalation. In the second study, potassium GIC was functionalized by various diazonium salts and benzyl bromides. Successful functionalization was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Finally, functionalized graphene was decorated with amine modified gold nanoparticles. This work provided a potential approach to functionalize graphene with various functional groups.