A New Structural Model for Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide as Revealed by Core EELS and DFT

Graphite oxide (GO) is a well known material since the middle of the XIX century. In the latest years it has attracted a renewed fame and interest as a precursor for a cheap large-scale production of graphene. Indeed, GO conserves the layered structure of graphite with an expanded interlayer distance that facilitates exfoliation, a subsequent reduction yields a material whose properties are very similar to those of graphene. Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) properties strongly depend on the local structure and stoichiometry. However, about 150 years from the first synthesis, many questions remain still open about GO and RGO chemical homogeneity and the functional groups effectively present.