A facile one-step hydrothermal method to produce graphene–MoO3 nanorod bundle composites

We describe a facile in situ hydrothermal fabrication of graphene–MoO3 nanorod bundle composites utilizing sodium salicylate. The structure, morphology and composition of graphen–MoO3 composites were investigated by means of field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC). FESEM and TEM studies show that the presence of ordered MoO3 nanorod bundles in composites, the characterization results of XRD, Raman spectra and TG-DSC analysis confirm the reduction of graphite oxide (GO) to graphene accompanying by the formation of MoO3 nanorod bundles in the hydrothermal process. Due to characteristics of MoO3 and graphene–MoO3 composites, our findings may have implications in the synthesis and fabrication of well-defined functional graphene–MoO3 hybrid materials. It may also provide a general approach for the preparation of graphene–metal oxide hybrid materials.