Preparation of fluorinated graphene to study its gas sensitivity

Abstract

In this paper, fluorinated graphene was prepared from graphite fluoride by an improved Hummers method. The fluorinated graphene was characterized using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). Moreover, a gas sensitivity test was carried out. The results show that the fluorinated graphene is composed of about 5 layers prepared by utilising the improved Hummers method. The content of fluorine in fluorinated graphene decreased, mainly due to the fracture of C–F bonds. Fluorinated graphene showed gas sensitivity to ethanol, ammonia, methane and formaldehyde gases. The sensitivity of fluorinated graphene to ammonia is the highest and is 3.5 times the sensitivity of graphene to ammonia. The doping of fluorine atoms was conducive to improving the gas sensitivity of fluorinated graphene.