Fabrication and Reduction of Graphene Oxide via Hammer Method: Investigation of Structural and Optical Properties

In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was synthesized from graphene oxide (GO) via an ascorbic acid-assisted reduction process. GO was synthesized from graphite powder using a modified Hummers technique. The surface morphology, structure, functional groups, and elemental compositions of the produced materials were studied using various methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/EDX, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and UV-Vis. The removal of oxygen-containing functional groups in rGO through reduction resulted in poor sample quality. In addition, FTIR investigations revealed that GO contained more oxygen-containing functional groups than rGO. Typical peaks at 26.7081° and 26.65° for rGO and GO, respectively, were characterized using XRD. Additionally, a UV-Vis study confirmed the successful reduction by observing a redshift in the absorption peak from 363 nm to 371 nm, indicating partial restoration of the π-conjugation system. Overall, the results demonstrated that graphene oxide was successfully oxidized from graphite and that rGO was efficiently reduced from GO, yielding a material with improved properties for the target application.