Photoreduction of graphene oxide enhanced by sacrificial agents

•Photoreduction of GOs was enhanced with the addition of the sacrificial agent.•Quench of the GO emission was observed with the addition of the sacrificial agent.•Well-dispersed solution was kept during photoreduction of GOs when adding TEA.•Photoreduction efficiency of GOs with TEA was superior to that with Na2S/Na2SO3.

In this work, the photoreduction of graphene oxides (GOs) was carried out in the presence of a sacrificial agent of Na2S/Na2SO3 and triethanolamine (TEA) separately in the solution. The photoreduction of GOs was enhanced with the addition of the sacrificial agent, which was examined in terms of reduction extent and needed reduction period. The quench of the GO emission was observed in the photoluminescence spectra of both GO solutions with Na2S/Na2SO3 and TEA. Although both sacrificial agents facilitated the charge transfer in the irradiated GO solutions, the aggregation of GO/reduced GO (RGO) occurred in the Na2S/Na2SO3-contained solution during photoreduction, which limited further photoreduction of GOs with the assistance of Na2S/Na2SO3. By keeping good dispersion characteristic during the whole process, the photoreduction efficiency of GO in the presence of TEA was therefore superior to that with the assistance of Na2S/Na2SO3.

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