Synthesis, characterization and optical limiting property of covalently oligothiophene-functionalized graphene material

An organic solution-processable functionalized graphene hybrid material with oligothiophene (6THIOP-NH-SPFGraphene) has been synthesized. The thermogravimetry analysis data shows that the hybrid is more stable than its parent graphene oxide as observed with an increased onset temperature. Ultraviolet-visible absorption and fluorescence emission data show that the attachment of the electron-acceptor group (graphene oxide sheet) onto the oligothiophene molecules results in an improved absorption than its parent compound in the whole spectral region and an efficient quenching of photoluminescence. The optical limiting properties were studied by using the open-aperture Z-scan measures at 532 nm, and the results show that 6THIOP-NH-SPFGraphene demonstrated a superior optical limiting effect, better than that of the benchmark optical limiting material C-60. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.