Eco-friendly one-pot synthesis of highly dispersible functionalized graphene nanosheets with free amino groups

An eco-friendly, facile and scalable hydrothermal approach, in which the reduction and functionalization of graphite oxide (GO) are completed in one pot, is proposed for the synthesis of monolayer 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-functionalized graphenes (A-FGs). Atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction analyses indicate that the as-synthesized A-FGs consist of only one or a few layered graphenes, while x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis reveal that APTES is bonded to graphene by the dehydration reaction between the Si-OH (produced by APTES hydration) and the -OH on the GO surface. As a result, free amino groups are left on the A-FGs. Moreover, A-FGs are highly dispersible in dimethylsulfoxide, APTES and ethylene glycol, and their solubilities are up to 0.89, 4.03 and 0.90 mg ml(-1), respectively.