Article
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Exploring Reduced Graphene Sheets RGo Stabilized by Cu(II) and Cu(I) Cations and Dispersed in Ethanol
Version 1
: Received: 4 June 2024 / Approved: 5 June 2024 / Online: 5 June 2024 (14:53:19 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Jezzini, A.; Davidson, A.; Hamieh, T.; Toufaily, J. Exploring Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets Stabilized by Cu(II) and Cu(I) Cations in Ethanol. Crystals 2024, 14, 654. Jezzini, A.; Davidson, A.; Hamieh, T.; Toufaily, J. Exploring Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets Stabilized by Cu(II) and Cu(I) Cations in Ethanol. Crystals 2024, 14, 654.
Abstract
Cu-ions dispersed on reduced graphene RGo prepared and characterized in a liquid state in ethanol. Either constant ultrasounds or a sequence of ultrasounds (15s working, 15s stop) were applied for 6 min or 2h overall time, at a power of 500 W. Commercial graphite in ethanol was introduced at a concentration of 0.04 g/mL and CuCl2 2.5 H2O concentrations between 0.012 and 0.04 g/mL were used. The structural characterizations performed by XRD, microscopic, and spectroscopic techniques, after a centrifugation at 5000 rpm applied 12 min before Cu-introduction, led to conclude that: 1) Without copper, negative peaks in UV spectra were detected with concentrated pure graphene solutions, indicating light emission as nicely confirmed next by fluorescence measurements, 2) After addition of copper chloride and equilibration for 2 min , very intense and narrow peaks of intensity larger than 10 were observed. These peaks due to collective excitations generating plasmons were suppressed at a higher dilution and also if the cell with one cm optical path was replaced by a narrower cell with a 0.2 cm path. When plasmons were suppressed, in the UV spectral range, a band gap due to the energy transition between the valence filled orbitals and conducting empty * orbitals, was observed. The presence of Cu (II) and Cu (I) cations were evidenced by Visible NIR spectroscopy. The formed “green” liquors containing Cu (II) Cu (I) /graphene in ethanol were stable in air for months and had good photocatalytic visible properties as demonstrated by the decomposition of two dyes.
Keywords
Photocatalysis; Cu2+ and Cu+; graphite; reduced graphene (RGo); Ultrasounds; Plasmons; Dyes decomposition
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Materials Science and Technology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Comments (0)
We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.
Leave a public commentSend a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
