One-step reducing and dispersing graphene oxide via hydroxypropyl hydrazine and its applications in Cu2+ removal

Graphene is widely used in numerous scientific fields including physics, chemistry and materials science due to its exceptional electrical, thermal, optical and mechanical properties. However, the poor solubility/dispersibility strongly limits the practical applications of graphene. In this work, hydroxypropyl hydrazine (HPH) was synthesized to reduce graphene oxide (GO) under mild conditions. The as-produced graphene sheets with a 3D-porous structure show admirable dispersion stability in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and the graphene sheets are more effective absorbents for Cu2+ removal than those reduced by hydrazine hydrate. A mechanism for removal of epoxides and carboxides from GO by HPH has been proposed. This one-step reducing and dispersing process of GO is more efficient, environmentally benign and safer for the bulk-scale production of 3D porous graphene.