Extraordinary water adsorption characteristics of graphene oxide

B. Lian, S. De Luca, Y. You, S. Alwarappan, M. Yoshimura, V. Sahajwalla, S. C. Smith, G. Leslie, R. K. Joshi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

122 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The laminated structure of graphene oxide (GO) confers unique interactions with water molecules which may be utilised in a range of applications that require materials with tuneable hygroscopic properties. The precise role of the expandable interlayer spacing and functional groups in GO laminates has not completely been understood to date. Herein, we report the experimental and theoretical investigations on the adsorption and desorption behaviour of water in GO laminates as a function of relative pressure. We observed that GO imparts high water uptake capacity of up to 0.58 gram of water per gram of GO (g g-1), which is significantly higher than silica gel as a conventional desiccant material. More interestingly, the adsorption and desorption kinetics of GO is five times higher than silica gel. The observed extraordinary adsorption/desorption rate can be attributed to the high capillary pressure in GO laminates as well as micro meter sized tunnel-like wrinkles located at the surface.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5106-5111
Number of pages6
JournalChemical Science
Volume9
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Extraordinary water adsorption characteristics of graphene oxide'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this