title: Mechanistic aspects of the radiation-chemical reduction of graphene oxide to graphene-like materials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the work was to investigate mechanistic details of the preparation of graphene-like materials (GLM) via reduction of graphene oxide (GO) in aqueous dispersions by electron beam (EB) generated reducing free radicals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 10 MeV linear accelerator was employed to irradiate aqueous GO dispersions at ambient temperatures. The kinetics of GO reduction was followed using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The resulting GLM were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and conductivity measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The reduction of GO could be afforded with high efficiency within minutes at room temperature via the reaction of GO with reducing radicals generated by EB irradiation. The detailed investigation of the reduction mechanism allowed a selection of the best reducing free radicals in terms of both their efficiency and environmental impact of their precursors and final products.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EB-treatment of aqueous GO dispersions is a highly efficient, environmentally friendly, cost-effective and easily up-scalable method for the preparation of GLM. The efficiency of the new reduction approach is comparable with the best existing methods.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Oberflächenmodifizierung (IOM) , Leipzig , Germany.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flyunt
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Knolle
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kahnt
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prager
authors.forename: Andriy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lotnyk
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malig
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guldi
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abel
mesh_terms: D004583:Electrons; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D010087:Oxides; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Graphene oxide; electron beam; reduced graphene oxide; reducing free radicals