Easy synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene-silver nanoparticle hybrids by thermal treatment of graphite oxide with glycine and silver nitrate

Nitrogen-doped graphene-silver nanoparticle hybrids were prepared by thermal treatment of graphite oxide (GO) with glycine and silver nitrate at 500 °C. Glycine was used to reduce the nitrate ions, resulting in the decomposition of a glycine-nitrate mixture near 200 °C. The products of decomposition act as sources for nitrogen doping. The thermal treatment of a mixture of GO, glycine and silver nitrate results in the formation of silver nanoparticles at 100 °C, promotes the reduction of GO near 200 °C, and generates pyrrolic and pyridinic type nitrogen doping in graphene at 300 and 500 °C, respectively. The atomic percentage of nitrogen in as-prepared sample is about 13.5%. This approach opens up a new possibility for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene decorated with various metallic nanoparticles, which could find important applications in the fields of energy storage and conversion devices.