Gamma Radiation Assisted Green Reduction of Graphene Oxide by Doum Palm (Hyphaene Thebaica) Fruit Powder.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Petroleum Applications, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI)

2 Radiation Physics Department, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology (NCRRT), Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt.

3 NRC-egypt

Abstract

Due to the wide range of graphene applications, there is still a need for a simple, low-cost, and scalable graphene synthesis technique. This work describes a facile, cost-effective, and green method for reducing graphene oxide (GO) using doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) fruit powder. This method is based on the radiolysis of GO solution containing doum powder under γ-irradiation instead of alcohol essentially used in γ- derived reduced GO. As a natural antioxidant, doum powder acts as a scavenger to oxidative species produced during irradiation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the removal of most oxygen functional groups from GO and conjugation between doum and derived reduced graphene oxide (DRRGO). From X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), the GO sharp peak disappeared and was replaced by a wide broad peak. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) outcomes revealed an increase in the (C/O) ratio in DRRGO compared to GO. Also, the C-C peak intensity ratio to the C-O peak intensity in the C1s region was increased from 0.58 in GO to 1.8 in DRRGO. The higher defect level of DRRGO compared to GO was deduced by Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the reduction effect on GO morphology was studied by High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The thermal stability of DRRGO was higher than that of GO, as revealed by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). These findings illustrate that this method is promising for the eco-friendly and mass production of nanoscale bio-synthesized oxides conjugated to reduced GO for biological applications.

Keywords


Volume 65, Issue 132 - Serial Number 13
Special Issue: Chemistry and Global Challenges (Part B)
December 2022
Pages 691-698
  • Receive Date: 11 March 2022
  • Revise Date: 15 April 2022
  • Accept Date: 13 September 2022