Reversible hydrophobic to hydrophilic transition of graphene under UV irradiation: Experimental and first principle studies

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Materials Science & Engineering

October 07-09, 2013 Hampton Inn Tropicana, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Zhemi Xu, Zhimin Ao, Dewei Chu and Sean Li

Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci

Abstract :

The mechanism of dissociating and adsorbing water molecules on graphene by ultraviolet irradiation has been investaged by experiments and confirmed by first principle studies, which realized the reversible transition of graphene from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. It is found that UV, acted as an excitation, can split H 2 O molecules into hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals and then hold them on the graphene surface. It is the concentration of hydrophilic hydroxyl groupschemical adsorbed on the surface that effects the wettability of graphene significantly, which can be controlled by UV irradiation duration. In addition, after air storage for several days, this transition can recover spontaneously. Hence, UV can act as a switch to change the hydrophilicity of graphene reversibly

Biography :

Zhemi Xu is doing her Masters from University of New South Wales, Australia in Materials Science and Engineering. She will finish masters degree in June 2014.