A Raman spectroscopic investigation of graphite oxide derived graphene

Graphene sheets that are now routinely obtained by the exfoliation/reduction of graphite oxide exhibit Raman spectra unlike traditional graphene systems. The general attributes of the Raman spectra of these ‘wrinkled graphene’ are first reaffirmed by evaluating the spectra of samples prepared by seven different exfoliation-reduction methods. These graphene sheets exhibit highly broadened D and G Raman bands and in addition, have a modulated bump in place of the conventional 2D (G′) band. It is shown that the high wavenumber ‘bump’ can be resolved into the conventional 2D band and several defect activated peaks such as G*, D+D′ and 2D′. The broad G band could also be deconvoluted into the actual G band and the D′ band, thereby attributing the broadening in the G band to the presence of this defect activated band. Two additional modes, named as D* at 1190 cm-1 and D** at ∼1500 cm-1 could be identified. These peculiar features in the Raman spectrum of ‘graphene’ are attributed to the highly disordered and wrinkled (defective) morphology of the sheets. The affect of defects are further augmented due to the finite crystallite size of these graphene sheets. The dispersion in the band positions and peak intensities with respect to the laser energy are also demonstrated.