Polarized ATR-IR spectroscopy for the identification of material structure: The case of graphene oxide

[Display omitted] •Graphene oxide has been synthesized according to the modified Hummer’s method.•A thin layer has been deposited on an Attenuated Total Reflectance crystal.•Spectra have been recorded using Polarized Infrared spectroscopy.•Surface groups identification has been refined. Graphene oxide (GO) is a layered structure similar to graphite, whose planes of carbon atoms are decorated by oxygen-containing groups. These groups bring hydrophilicity and reactivity to GO, as they are present on its basal plane or at the edges. Thus, their identification is essential to determine the chemical properties of GO. Amongst the possible analytical techniques, infrared spectroscopy is suitable to identify these groups. In this work, an advanced spectroscopic method, polarized attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy, was used to obtain a more in-depth analysis of these reactive groups. This new approach has allowed to refine the description of the functional groups at the surface and could be used to follow the evolution surface processes in material chemistry (e.g. grafting reactions).