Blue and green luminescence of reduced graphene oxide quantum dots

We report on a new method for synthesising strongly blue and green photoluminescent graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Graphene was prepared by a new feasible method using an intensive cavitation field in a pressurised ultrasonic batch reactor. The prepared graphene was quantitatively converted to graphene oxide using our modified, safer Hummer’s method. Graphene oxide was characterised by microscopic (AFM and TEM) and spectral (infrared and Raman) methods, and the thermal stability of graphene oxide was determined using thermal analysis (DTA-TG). GQDs were prepared by a one-pot reaction, refluxing graphene oxide in different solvents (ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) at atmospheric pressure. The synthesised GQDs were characterised by infrared, UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and AFM microscopy.