Microwave syntheses of graphene and graphene decorated with metal nanoparticles

We report a simple and rapid method to synthesize pure graphene sheets and those decorated with metal nanoparticles by combining chemical foaming agents, green oxidizers, and microwave radiation. Under microwave radiation, an intercalated foaming agent between graphite oxide layers plays a key role in the rapid and large expansion of the graphene worm along the thickness direction and in the reduction process of the graphite oxide. By adding metal precursors to the reactant mixture, this technique can also be extended to a one-pot method to synthesize graphene decorated with metal nanoparticles. A variety of metal precursors was used to yield iron, platinum, and palladium decorated graphene sheets. These were tested for their electrocatalytic performance in organic glucose sensing and inorganic electro-active compounds, all of which showed a remarkable increase in electrochemical performance for all cases.