Graphitization behaviour of chemically derived graphene sheets.

Graphene sheets were prepared via chemical reduction of graphite oxides and then graphitized at 2800 °C. The structure changes from pristine graphite to graphitized graphene sheets were monitored using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the graphitized graphene sheets exhibited relatively low degree of graphitization and high level of structural defects. XPS spectra revealed that oxygen functionalities could be completely eliminated after graphitization. Morphology observations indicated that graphitization could induce the coalescence and connection of the crumpled graphene agglomerations into compressed grains. The connections included the joint of graphitic sheets along the c-axis with van der Waals force between graphitic sheets and the joint of sheets in the in-plane with covalent bond between carbon atoms. New structures such as the formation of loop at the tip of graphene sheets and the formation of 3D concentric graphene nanoparticles occurred in the graphitized graphene sheets, as a result of self-organization to achieve their lowest potential energy. Our findings should provide some experimental implications for understanding of graphitization behaviour and thermal stability of strictly 2D graphene monolayers.