Oxygenated Functional Group Density on Graphene Oxide: Its Effect on Cell Toxicity

microRNAs control of in vivo toxicity from graphene oxide in Caenorhabditis elegans

Interactions of graphene oxide with the microbial community of biologically active filters from a water treatment plant

Despite great recent progress, the processing of graphene oxide (GO) sheets in polymers are often one of the most challenging steps in fabricating graphene/polymer nanocomposites. The challenge is how to achieve high levels of dispersion and reduction of GO simultaneously, without any residual reducing agents in the composites. In this work, microwave irradiation is applied as a remote source to in situ reduce GO sheets embedded in the poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix, which process maximizes the advantage of GO's solvent processability. The active response of GO to microwave irradiation allows for the uniform and selective heating of GO, leading to a minutes‐quick reduction of GO without physical damage to the polymer matrix. Significant improvements in the mechanical properties, electrical conductivities and glass transition temperatures (Tgs) of GO/PVA nanocomposites are achieved, and possible reasons for the improvements are also discussed. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:170–178, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

Functional disruption in epidermal barrier enhances toxicity and accumulation of graphene oxide

Light-induced oxygen sensing using ZnO/GO based gas sensor

We present a general study on a high performance supercapacitor based on intercalated reduced graphene oxide with carbon black nanoparticles. Graphene oxide sheets were synthesized by oxidation and exfoliation of natural graphite and were reduced using hydroiodic acid in the presence of carbon black nanoparticles. Graphene paper was fabricated by one-step procedure via simultaneous reducing and drying the aqueous solution of mixed carbon black nanoparticles and graphene oxide on a conductive substrate. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the intercalation of carbon black nanoparticles into reduced graphene oxide sheets, preventing them from restacking during the fabrication of paper. Results confirmed that the electrochemical performance of the reduced graphene oxide paper as a supercapacitor electrode was improved by intercalation of carbon black nanoparticles into reduced graphene oxide sheets and also the assembled supercapacitor becomes more efficient with graphene oxide separator. Cyclic voltammetry of the prepared electrodes in 30 wt% KOH solution at 10 mV/s scan rate showed that adding only 5 wt% of carbon black to graphene oxide increases specific capacitance from 118 F/g to 129 F/g. In addition, the maximum specific capacitance (139 F/g) was obtained by adding 15 wt% of carbon black and that increased to 142 F/g by the use of graphene oxide paper as a separator. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy by Nyquist plot showed that charge transfer resistance in electrodes decreases from 18 in the reduced graphene oxide to 6 in the reduced graphene oxide paper with intercalated carbon black nanoparticles and ions diffusion occurs easier than previous.

Complementary protective effects of autophagy and oxidative response against graphene oxide toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans

The hydrothermal process was used to prepare Mn3O4/x%GO nanocomposites (NC’s) having different ratios of the Mn3O4 nanoparticles (NP’s) on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) sheet. SEM image showed that the Mn3O4 NP’s were distributed over the surface of GO sheet. HRTEM images exhibited the lattice fringe arising from the (101) plane of the Mn3O4 NP’s having the interplanar d-spacing of 0.49 nm decorating on the surface of GO. The electronic absorption spectra of Mn3O4/x%GO NC’s also show broad bands from 250 to 550 nm. These bands arise from the d–d crystal field transitions of the tetrahedral Mn3+ species and indicate a distortion in the crystal structure. Photo-catalytic activity of spinel ferrite Mn3O4 NP’s by themselves was low but photo-catalytic activity is enhanced when the NP’s are decorating the GO sheet. Moreover, the Mn3O4/10%GO NC’s showed the best photo-catalytic activity. This result comes from the formation of Mn–O–C bond that confirm by FT-IR. This bond would facilitate the transfer of the photoelectrons from the surfaces of the NP’s to the GO sheets. PL emission which is in the violet–red luminescent region shows the creation of defects in the fabricated Mn3O4 NP’s nanostructures. These defects create the defect states to which electrons in the VB can be excited to when the CB. The best degradation efficiency was achieved by the Mn3O4 NP’s when they were used to decorate the GO sheets in the Mn3O4/10%GO NC’s solution.HighlightsLattice fringe of Mn3O4 with an interplanar d-spacing of 0.49 nm for (101) plane.Photocatalytic activity of spinel ferrite Mn3O4 nanoparticles by itself is low.Number of photoelectrons created depends on number of Mn3O4 on a given area of GOThe bonding of the Mn3O4 to the GO sheet would be though a Mn–O–C junction.The degradation processes were accelerated by Mn3O4/10%GO nanocompositesGraphic abstract

Excellent photocatalytic performance of Zn(1 − x)MgxO/rGO nanocomposites under natural sunlight irradiation and their photovoltaic and UV detector applications

This investigation studies the various magnetic behaviors of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxides (rGOs) and elucidates the relationship between the chemical states that involve defects therein and their magnetic behaviors in GO sheets. Magnetic hysteresis loop reveals that the GO is ferromagnetic whereas photo-thermal moderately reduced graphene oxide (M-rGO) and heavily reduced graphene oxide (H-rGO) gradually become paramagnetic behavior at room temperature. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and corresponding X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy were utilized to investigate thoroughly the variation of the C 2p(π*) states that are bound with oxygen-containing and hydroxyl groups, as well as the C 2p(σ*)-derived states in flat and wrinkle regions to clarify the relationship between the spatially-resolved chemical states and the magnetism of GO, M-rGO and H-rGO. The results of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism further support the finding that C 2p(σ*)-derived states are the main origin of the magnetism of GO. Based on experimental results and first-principles calculations, the variation in magnetic behavior from GO to M-rGO and to H-rGO is interpreted, and the origin of ferromagnetism is identified as the C 2p(σ*)-derived states that involve defects/vacancies rather than the C 2p(π*) states that are bound with oxygen-containing and hydroxyl groups on GO sheets.

A method for preparing three-dimensional (3D) carbon-based architectures consisting of mesoporous carbon spheres intercalated between graphene sheets is demonstrated in this paper. Colloidally dispersed negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) sheets strongly interacted with positively charged mesoporous silica spheres (MSS) to form a MSS–GO composite. The MSS were then used as template for replicating mesoporous carbon spheres (MCS) via a chemical vapor deposition process, during which the GO sheets were reduced to reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Removal of the silica spheres left behind a 3D hierarchical porous carbon architecture with slightly crumpled graphene sheets intercalated with MCS. The 3D carbon structure contained a low amount of oxygen (3.2% of atomic ratio of O/C) than a RGO sample (10.1%), which was prepared by using the chemical reduction method with hydrazine as the reducing agent. Thermal annealing of the 3D carbon structure in ammonia atmosphere further reduced the O/C atomic ratio to 1.6%. The capacitive performance of the samples as supercapacitor electrodes was investigated using the cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The 3D carbon structure showed a substantially lower equivalent series resistance and a higher power capability than the RGO electrode. In addition, the 3D carbon electrode exhibited an excellent electrochemical cyclability with 94% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles of galvanostatic charge–discharge. The method demonstrated in this work opens up a new route to the preparation of 3D graphene-based architectures for supercapacitor applications.

Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising precursor to produce graphene-family nanomaterials for various applications. Their potential health and environmental impacts need a good understanding of their cellular interactions. Many factors may influence their biological interactions with cells, and the lateral dimension of GO sheets is one of the most relevant material properties. In this study, a model bacterium, Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), was used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of well-dispersed GO sheets, whose lateral size differs by more than 100 times. Our results show that the antibacterial activity of GO sheets toward E. coli cells is lateral size dependent. Larger GO sheets show stronger antibacterial activity than do smaller ones, and they have different time- and concentration-dependent antibacterial activities. Large GO sheets lead to most cell loss after 1 h incubation, and their concentration strongly influences antibacterial activity at relative low concentration (<10 μg/mL). In contrast, when incubating with small GO sheets up to 4 h, the inactivation rate of E. coli cells continues increasing. The increase of small GO sheet concentration also results in persistent increases in their antibacterial activity. In this study, GO sheets with different lateral sizes are all well dispersed, and their oxidation capacity toward glutathione is similar, consistent with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy results. This suggests the lateral size-dependent antibacterial activity of GO sheets is caused by neither their aggregation states, nor oxidation capacity. Atomic force microscope analysis of GO sheets and cells shows that GO sheets interact strongly with cells. Large GO sheets more easily cover cells, and cells cannot proliferate once fully covered, resulting in the cell viability loss observed in the followed colony counting test. In contrast, small GO sheets adhere to the bacterial surfaces, which cannot effectively isolate cells from environment. This study highlights the importance of tailoring the lateral dimension of GO sheets to optimize the application potential with minimal risks for environmental health and safety.

Large-area sheets are highly desirable for fundamental research and technological applications of graphene. Here we introduce a modified chemical exfoliation technique to prepare large-area graphene oxide (GO) sheets. The maximum area of the GO sheets obtained can reach ∼40000 μm(2). We found that the GO area is strongly correlated with the C-O content of the graphite oxide, which enables the area of the synthesized GO sheets to be controlled. By simply changing oxidation conditions, GO sheets with an average area of ca. 100-300, ca. 1000-3000, and ∼7000 μm(2) were selectively synthesized. For transparent conductive film applications, thin GO films were fabricated by self-assembly on a liquid/air interface and reduced by HI acid. We found that the sheet resistance of the reduced GO (rGO) films decreases with increasing sheet area at the same transmittance because of the decrease in the number of intersheet tunneling barriers. The rGO film made from GO sheets with an average area of ∼7000 μm(2) shows a sheet resistance of 840 Ω/sq at 78% transmittance, which is much lower than that (19.1 kΩ/sq at 79% transmittance) of a rGO film made from small-area GO sheets of ca. 100-300 μm(2), and comparable to that of graphene films grown on Ni by chemical vapor deposition.

Field electron emission from protruded GO and rGO sheets on CuO and Cu nanorods

Unveiling a novel mechanism: Reduction of graphene oxide by Lysinibacillus sp. through secretion of l-ascorbic acid