Sulfur-Functionalized Graphene Oxide by Epoxide Ring-Opening

The treatment of graphene oxide (GO) with potassium thioacetate followed by an aqueous work‐up yields a new material via the ring‐opening of the epoxide groups. The new material is a thiol‐functionalized GO (GO‐SH) which is able to undergo further functionalization. Reaction with butyl bromide gives another new material, GO‐SBu, which shows significantly enhanced thermal stability compared to both GO and GO‐SH. The thiol‐functionalized GO material showed a high affinity for gold, as demonstrated by the selective deposition of a high density of gold nanoparticles. GO for gold: Potassium thioacetate was used to selectively open the epoxides present on a graphene oxide (GO) surface. This new route into functionalization of GO was exploited to attach gold nanoparticles on a GO surface (see picture).