Graphene and Graphene Oxide: A Long Race Horse

Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have allured the interest of global scientists from diverse disciplines to explore the material in terms of all possible development owing to its essence of exceptional properties like electronic properties, adjustable structural properties, optical and mechanical properties. There have been immense efforts involved in the progress of advancement of technological development and fundamental research from chemically modified graphene in the form of GO, possessing several functionalities which can be tuned to obtain required structural modifications either covalently or non-covalently. This review is a complete carriage of GO, providing brief summary of its synthesis, routes of functionalization and various applications. The review begins with the structure and physicochemical properties of graphene and GO, followed by a brief history of GO synthesis. Subsequently, it comprehends covalent and non-covalent functionalization with their further classifications. Finally, it elucidates practical examples of multifarious applications in the fields of electrocatalysts, carbocatalysts, photocatalysts, drug delivery, water splitting, and biosensors. The role of GO in the impediment of the current epidemic of SARS-Cov-2 disease is encompassed as well. We anticipate that this review will deliver fundamentals of graphene and GO chemistry, as well as recent smart applications, allowing us to overcome current challenges.

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