Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene via eco-friendly microwave-assisted process

Adriana Marinoiu^1*, Iuliana Morjan², Simona Nica³, Mircea Raceanu¹, Felicia Bucura¹, Stanica Enache¹, Elena Carcadea¹

¹National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies – ICSI Rm. Valcea, 4 Uzinei Street, P.O. Box Râureni 7, 240050, Rm. Valcea, Romania

² National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409, Atomistilor Street, PO Box MG-36, 077125 Magurele, Bucharest, Romania

³“C. D. Nenitzescu” Institute of Organic Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Splaiul

Independentei, no. 202B, Bucharest, Romania

ABSTRACT

This study has evaluated the synthesis of nitrogen doped graphene via a facile protocol employing the eco-friendly microwave-assisted process (MW). The nitrogen doped graphene was synthesized by MW route utilizing ammonia as nitrogen precursor and ethanol as reduction agent in the presence of graphene oxide (GO). Rapid thermal reduction of NH⁴⁺ was achieved as nitrogen-doped graphene under the condition of microwave irradiation (800 W, 15 min). The microstructural properties of prepared samples were examined. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) surface composition, elemental analysis were performed to characterize the synthesized nitrogen-doped graphene. The nitrogen content of as-prepared nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N/rGO) was 2.98 wt %. The performed characterization demonstrated that N/rGO has been successfully prepared by using an eco-friendly method, which brought important advantages (facile, simple, quick, inexpensive technique).

Keywords: Nitrogen-doped graphene, microwave, ammonia.