Graphite Oxide and Reduced Graphite Oxide Models to Reveal the Contribution of Carbon Texture and Surface Chemistry to Hydrogen Storage and Li-Ion Battery Anode Performance

After being an indispensable intermediate in the oxidative exfoliation route towards graphene, graphene oxide has gained its deserved value in materials science for numerous applications, from catalysis, through energy storage and conversion, to sensor use. In this work, three graphene oxides of tuned morphology and chemistry are used as a simplified model for porous carbon materials in hydrogen storage and as a Li-ion battery anode. The BET surface areas were, respectively, 9, 13, and 535 m²/g, while the corresponding O/C values from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were 0.51, 0.17, and 0.12. Additionally, the samples were thoroughly characterized using scanning and transmission electron imaging, powder X-ray diffraction, thermal stability, and Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic methods. Hydrogen adsorption isotherms (-196 °C) and their comparison with nitrogen uptake revealed that pore accessibility, porous confinement, and surface chemistry, i.e., both morphology and surface chemistry, contribute to efficient adsorption. In the anode application, by contrast, surface chemistry was the single most defining factor for performance.