Graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial for chemical speciation in the field

Since the discovery of graphene (a two dimensional material) by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (both of the University of Manchester, UK) for which they were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, graphene has been receiving significant attention primarily as an electronic material [1]. More recently, we have been using modified graphene to collect Cr-species (e.g., Cr3+ or Cr6+) from lake water samples and to support the collected species on lbortory modified graphene. The concentration of the species extracted from the water samples and collected on the modified graphene oxide can be measured in the field using a portable, in-house developed, battery-operated microplasma and a portable fiber-optic spectrometer. Details will be discussed in this presentation.