Reduced Graphene Oxide Using an Environmentally Friendly Banana Extracts

One of the most promising methods to produce graphene in large scale is the use of chemical exfoliation together with chemical reduction to achieve reduced graphene oxide. Replacing conventional reducing agents, such as NaBH4 and hydrazine, with cheap, widely available, safe, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-prepare reducing agents is a key to large-scale commercial production of reduced graphene oxide. In this work, we investigate the effectiveness of utilizing fruit extracts derived from banana peel and juice to reduce graphene oxide. After the reduction, the oxygen-containing functional groups in graphene oxide are effectively removed, and the sp(2) hybridized carbon-carbon bonding networks are restored, as evidenced by the characterization using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Our banana extracts would offer a promising pathway for realizing cheap, safe, and environmentally friendly reducing agents for the upscale production of reduced graphene oxide.