Solid-state microwave irradiation synthesis of high quality graphene nanosheets under hydrogen containing atmosphere

High quality graphene nanosheets were fabricated within 1 min by solid-state microwave irradiation of a mixture of graphite oxide and graphene nanosheets under a hydrogen atmosphere. The graphene nanosheets in the mixture acted as an effective microwave susceptor under microwave irradiation synthesis, and could provide sufficiently rapid heating for the effective exfoliation of graphite oxide. A hydrogen containing atmosphere played important roles in improving the quality of the graphene nanosheets by increasing the level of reduction and preventing the formation of defects in the graphene nanosheets. The graphene nanosheets thus obtained exhibited a specific surface area of 586 m(2) g(-1) and an outstanding carbon/oxygen ratio of 18.5.