Improvement of Dispersibility of Graphene Oxide by Surface Modification with Rare Earths
Abstract Rare earth-modified graphene oxide (RE-M-GO) materials were successfully prepared by infiltration and heating modifier method. The morphology and phase structure of RE-M-GO were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS). The changes of the chemical structure were indicated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) was used to study the chemical state of the surface elements of graphene oxide which showed that the rare earth elements were added to the graphene oxide functional groups through the coordination reaction. Additionally, the findings concluded that the effect of modification by Ce is more obvious than La elements and the RE-M-GO materials prepared by the heating modifier method had better dispersibility than infiltration. With activating effect, the rare earth elements grafting to graphene oxide will contribute to its combination with other materials.