A new sustainable green protocol for production of reduced graphene oxide and its gas sensing properties

Abstract

In this report, we report a green, rapid and scalable synthetic route for the production of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using an environment-friendly reducing agent (l-glutathione/L-Glu) to test its feasibility for CO & NO2 gas sensing. The structure, morphology, and thermal stability of as-synthesized rGO are investigated via Raman spectroscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscope, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The L-Glu-rGO shows higher sp2 carbon hybridization (42at.%) than graphene oxide (GO) (29 at.%). The results indicate that L-Glu-rGO exhibits good relative response at 150 °C to both gases (10 ppm of NO2 and CO). Further, L-Glu-rGO shows a smaller response time (∼10.61 s for NO2 and ∼5.05 s for CO) than GO (∼16.64 s, ∼11.92 s to NO2 and CO respectively) at 150 °C, indicating the potential application of L-Glu-rGO for gas sensing. Keywords: Green method, l-Glutathione, Graphene oxide, Reduced graphene oxide, Gas sensor