White light induced covalent modification of graphene using a phenazine dye

Abstract

Herein, we report a novel strategy for a covalent modification of graphene nanoplatelets with photoactive dyes. The functionalization of the graphene surface was carried out using white light to photochemically generate phenazine radicals and the reaction progress was followed up spectrophotometrically. The characterization of the modified material was carried out using FTIR, XRD, UV-vis absorption, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy and SEM imaging. The hybrid material has improved solubility, shows an optical band gap of 1.95 eV and is highly emissive in the visible wavelength region.