Si-mediated fabrication of reduced graphene oxide and its hybrids for electrode materials

Abstract

Here, we demonstrate a Si-mediated environmentally friendly reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and the fabrication of its hybrids with multiwall carbon nanotubes and nanofibers. The reduction of GO is facilitated by nascent hydrogen generated by the reaction between Si and KOH at ∼60 °C. The overall process takes 5 to 7 minutes and 10 to 15 μm of Si is consumed each time. We show that Si can be used multiple times and the rGO based hybrids can be used for electrode materials.