Characterization and dispersibility of improved thermally stable amide functionalized graphene oxide

Amidation of graphene oxide (GO) with aniline, 2-aminothiazole and 2-aminopyrimidine results in the synthesis of amide functionalized graphene oxides (AGOs). Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the properties of AGOs. It was found that, contrary to GO, AGOs are soluble in water, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide and can be stabilized for months. TGA of AGOs shows the major weight loss above 670 C as compared to GO in which significant weight loss occurs near 200 degrees C. Thus AGOs show strong improvement in thermal properties. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.