Preparation and Characterization of nanoparticles/graphene oxide hybrid nanostructures

Abstract

The combination of carbon family materials such as, one dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and two dimensional (2D) graphene nanosheets with inorganic nanoparticles has opened up a new way to produce arrays of novel hybrid nanomaterials for various potential applications. As a novel carbon nanomaterial, graphene is expected as a high-potential nanoscale building block for developing such hybrid materials because it possesses large interfacial surface area as well as the superior electrical conductivity far much better than its analogous counterpart, CNTs. Along with relatively inexpensive sources (graphite) for preparing graphene, these advantages have led to the rise of scientific investigations among researchers in employing them as a cheap substitute for CNTs. In the frame of this thesis, new concepts for the functionalization of graphene based nanomaterials with various functional nanoparticles are presented. Up to date, although there were some reports on the immobilization of inorganic nanoparticles on graphene oxide, it is recognized that there is still a major drawback that must be overcome to meet requirements for practical applications. The drawback is that nanoparticles may easily leach out from the graphene surface during applications due to the weak interactions, such as electrostatic or π-π stacking interactions between graphene oxide surface and nanoparticles. The main goal in this thesis is to develop new and simple approaches for the immobilization of functional nanoparticles on graphene oxide surface by covalent bondings. The resulting hybrid nanostructures were characterized using a wide range of analytical techniques. The results underpinned in this thesis indicate that the potential of utilizing graphene-based hybrid nanostructure as a cost effective platform for many potential applications such as nanobiotechnology, solar energy conversion, photonic devices or catalysts.