(705c) Microwave Induced in-Situ Deposition of Gold and Silver Nanostructures On Graphene: Avenue to Build Graphene-Metal Interfaces

Currently, there is a great interest in interfacing 2-D sheets of graphene with lower dimensional nanostructures for fabricating novel graphene-hybrids with modifiable electrical, optical and mechanical properties. In this talk, we demonstrate a one-step approach for microwave assisted synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles on graphene-oxide sheets. The advantage of the microwave-assisted synthetic route is that it avoids using the conventional stabilizing agents for nanoparticle synthesis, which react with the graphene sheets leading to formation of defects and loss of properties. Specifically we show that (a) in the presence of MW irradiations, graphene-oxide sheets act as excellent templates for an in-situ ultra-fast formation of gold and silver nanoparticles, and (b) attachment of gold/silver on to graphene brings about a modification in its electronic and optical properties. This simple surfactant-less processing approach will open up new avenues for synthesizing graphene-metal hybrid sheets, which will enable development of next generation graphene applications in catalysis, nanoelectronics, sensors, optoelectronics and fuel-cell technology.