Directed nanoparticle reduction on graphene

A simple, green mechanism for the UV assisted synthesis of graphene in the presence of phosphotungstic acid (PTA) is presented. The reduced graphene oxide (RGO) after UV exposure in the presence of PTA has been further identified as an efficient UV-absorber due to its complexation with PTA. This in turn could be used as an excellent template for the decoration of metal nanoparticles (NPs) on RGO. HRTEM analysis corroborates the localized reduction of metal NPs on the graphene matrix. The RGO-NP templated configurations further demonstrate an interesting microsecond delay of electron transfer from the recombination of electron-hole pairs; an enviable property for next generation optoelectronic devices.