Prof. Paula Marques. Departament d'Enginyeria Mecànica, Universitat d'Aveiro, Portugal

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Divulgació ICMAB

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divulgacio@icmab.es

The chemical exfoliation of graphite through oxidative solution methodologies originates stable aqueous suspensions of graphene oxide (GO) that can be used as a precursor on the synthesis of graphene by applying chemical or thermal reducing methods. This intermediary specie has attracted the attention of scientists because its surface chemistry is highly versatile. The presence of the oxygen functional groups allows the use of several functionalization approaches.

This talk aims to give an overview of the work being developed in my research group using GO as a multifunctional platform to create innovative materials for wide range of potential applications. In this field, my group was pioneer showing that the presence of oxygen functionalities at the GO surface provides reactive sites for the nucleation and growth of gold and silver nanoparticles. The organochemistry of the GO was also explored. We have successfully modified the surface of GO with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) chains via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This strategy can be further exploited to grow a large range of polymers from the GO surface only by changing the monomer.

Another promising field of research being explored in our group is the use of nano-GO for tumour hyperthermia. The preparation methods of nano-GO will be discussed. Recently, the knowledge to prepare tri-dimensional (3D) structures of reduced GO opened the possibility to explore this material in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, scaffolds for tissue engineering and water remediation. 

Undoubtedly, graphene oxide based nanocomposites hold a great potential for being robust functional materials to address various health or environmental related issues. In spite of the remarkably rapid progress, the potential of GO based materials in these fields has yet to be fully explored.