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      Nanoscopic infrared characterisation of graphene oxide

      Steiner, Pietro

      [Thesis]. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester; 2019.

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      Abstract

      Graphene oxide (GO) is a single layer of carbon atoms decorated with oxygen groups, which has recently gained interest as a reinforcing filler in composite materials, in filtration processes and for biomedical applications. However, the structure of GO has not been fully characterised, mainly due to the lack of spectroscopic techniques for the unambiguous identification of the oxygen groups onto the surface of GO at the nanoscale. Only recently it has been demonstrated that by using a contact mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) coupled with an IR tuneable source (AFM-IR) it is possible to characterise monolayer GO flakes with a spatial resolution below the diffraction limit. This work investigates the thickness dependence of AFM-IR analysis with respect to GO spectroscopy and provides a comparison with the conventional FTIR of GO materials. This thesis highlights the great discrepancies within the two IR techniques especially on thinner samples (<10nm) and therefore goes some way to showing the limit of detection for AFM-IR of GO and other two-dimensional materials on a range of techniques. Through experimental investigation, it has been found that that the roughness of the substrate plays an important role in the AFM-IR characterisation of nanomaterials. It has also been discovered that by using an atomically smooth gold substrate the IR amplitude signals of GO flakes are significantly enhanced. It is anticipated that further improvements of the AFM-IR characterisation could arise from the results found in this thesis; such as the use of different substrates that could lead to an increase of the IR amplitude signal of monolayer GO, further decreasing the detection limit and increasing both the spectral and spatial resolution of this technique for two-dimensional materials.

      Bibliographic metadata

      Type of resource:
      Content type:
      Administered thesis
      Form of thesis:
      Traditional
      Type of submission:
      Doctoral level ETD - final
      Thesis title:
      Nanoscopic infrared characterisation of graphene oxide
      Degree type:
      Master of Philosophy
      Degree programme:
      MPhil Materials
      Publication date:
      2019-05-31T16:19:11
      Institution:
      The University of Manchester
      Location:
      Manchester, UK
      Total pages:
      94
      Abstract:
      Graphene oxide (GO) is a single layer of carbon atoms decorated with oxygen groups, which has recently gained interest as a reinforcing filler in composite materials, in filtration processes and for biomedical applications. However, the structure of GO has not been fully characterised, mainly due to the lack of spectroscopic techniques for the unambiguous identification of the oxygen groups onto the surface of GO at the nanoscale. Only recently it has been demonstrated that by using a contact mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) coupled with an IR tuneable source (AFM-IR) it is possible to characterise monolayer GO flakes with a spatial resolution below the diffraction limit. This work investigates the thickness dependence of AFM-IR analysis with respect to GO spectroscopy and provides a comparison with the conventional FTIR of GO materials. This thesis highlights the great discrepancies within the two IR techniques especially on thinner samples (<10nm) and therefore goes some way to showing the limit of detection for AFM-IR of GO and other two-dimensional materials on a range of techniques. Through experimental investigation, it has been found that that the roughness of the substrate plays an important role in the AFM-IR characterisation of nanomaterials. It has also been discovered that by using an atomically smooth gold substrate the IR amplitude signals of GO flakes are significantly enhanced. It is anticipated that further improvements of the AFM-IR characterisation could arise from the results found in this thesis; such as the use of different substrates that could lead to an increase of the IR amplitude signal of monolayer GO, further decreasing the detection limit and increasing both the spectral and spatial resolution of this technique for two-dimensional materials.
      Keyword(s):
      Thesis main supervisor(s):
      Thesis co-supervisor(s):
      Degree grantor:
      Language:
      en

      Institutional metadata

      University researcher(s):
      Academic department(s):

        Record metadata

        Manchester eScholar ID:
        uk-ac-man-scw:319659
        Created by:
        Steiner, Pietro
        Created:
        31st May, 2019, 15:19:11
        Last modified by:
        Steiner, Pietro
        Last modified:
        2nd July, 2020, 11:32:05

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