Influence of oxygen-containing groups on vibrational spectra of oxide of graphene

The influence of oxygen-containing groups on the IR absorption spectra of graphene oxide (GO) is studied using the FT-IR spectroscopy and quantum-mechanical modelling. In the modelling, we determine the GO fragments with various oxygen-containing groups and identify the characteristic IR spectral bands of each group. These data are used to analyse the experimental IR spectra of GO obtained at room and cryogenic (6 K) temperatures for two samples, which are different in degree of oxidation. We assign the spectral bands in the IR spectra to vibrations of the main GO oxygen-containing groups. The determined characteristic vibrations of the GO oxygen-containing groups provide the basis for the use of IR spectroscopy to control the degree of the GO oxidation and the relative content of oxygen-containing groups in its structure.