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Updated: Mar 5, 2026

Synthesis and Functionalization of 3D Nano-graphene Materials: Graphene Aerogels and Graphene Macro Assemblies
Published on: November 5, 2015
Covalent Crosslinking of Graphene Quantum Dots by McMurry Deoxygenation Coupling
Limei Chen1, Peiguang Hu1, Jia En Lu1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA.
Abstract:
Graphene quantum dots were covalently crosslinked forming ensembles of a few hundred nanometers in size by McMurry deoxygenation coupling reactions of peripheral carbonyl functional moieties catalyzed by TiCl4 and Zn powders in refluxing THF, as evidenced by TEM, AFM, FTIR, Raman and XPS measurements. Photoluminescence measurements showed that after chemical coupling, the excitation and emission peaks blue-shifted somewhat and the emission intensity increased markedly, likely due to the removal of oxygenated species where quinone-like species are known to be effective electron acceptors and emission quenchers.
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