Covalent modification of graphenes can promote new functionalities, this ultimately widening exploitation of modified graphenes in new applications fields. Developing efficient, reproducible, and scalable procedures for the synthesis and purification of new graphene materials is crucial. In this frame, in collaboration with the chemistry department ‘G. Ciamician’ of the University of Bologna, we have introduced a new high-efficiency and sustainable methodology for the arylation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets with arylazo sulfones. A variety of tagged aryl units were grafted to rGO surface via visible-light irradiation of suspensions of rGO in aqueous media. Mild reaction conditions, absence of photosensitizers, functional group tolerance and high atomic fractions are some of the breakthrough features of the proposed methodology.
Original article:
L. Lombardi, A. Kovtun, S. Mantovani, G. Bertuzzi, L. Favaretto, C. Bettini, V. Palermo, M. Melucci, M. Bandini, Visible-Light Assisted Covalent Surface Functionalization of Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets with Arylazo Sulfones, Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e202200333, http://Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e202200333