Synthesis of graphene oxide and nitrogen-doped graphene oxide by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of graphene in liquid for fiber optic gas sensing application

Abstract

Heteroatom-doped graphene oxide has a wide range of applications in bio-imaging and sensing. In this work, Graphene Oxide (GO) and Nitrogen-doped GO (NG) were synthesized by laser ablation of Graphene in ethanol. The dopant Diethylenetriamine (DETA) is used in different amounts for different nitrogen concentrations. Optical, morphological, structural, and elemental composition studies were done by UV–vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, FE-SEM, XRD, Raman, and EDAX analysis, respectively. The nitrogen doping on the surface of GO was confirmed by FT-IR and EDAX studies. Upon laser ablation with fundamental wavelength, the graphene is converted to spherical GO nanoparticles, and nitrogen doping is done to produce porous nano coral structured NG nanoparticles. The sensitivity and selectivity of GO and NG for ammonia, ethanol, and acetone target gaseous were investigated and compared. NG sample shows excellent sensitivity and selectivity towards acetone gas. And the Nitrogen-doped graphene oxide can be considered an ideal material for gas-sensing applications.