Hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide; effect on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

In this article, a green and controllable method was introduced to reduce graphene oxide (GO) via a hydrothermal deoxygenation process. The reduced graphene oxide (RGO) obtained was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, et al. The reduction degree as well as residual chemical components can be adjusted by changing the reaction time and pH conditions. Both GO and RGO were applied as SERS substrates, and their SERS activities were studied and compared. The mechanism on SERS enhancement of GO and RGOs was discussed. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.