Graphene oxide as smart sustainable nanomaterial: a versatile multifunctional material with transformative potential in advanced materials science research

Graphene oxide (GO), a two-dimensional carbon-based nanomaterial with a distinctive layered architecture, has emerged as a transformative platform for addressing critical challenges in energy, environment, and healthcare through innovative technological solutions. This comprehensive review examines exceptional characteristics of GO as a smart nanomaterial in advanced materials science, emphasizing synthesis chemistry and property modification for sustainable, multifunctional applications. The unique layered structure of GO enables extensive surface functionalization, allowing tailored properties from excellent adsorptive to hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces, and dimensional configurations spanning 0D to 3D nanostructures. Its significant features like structural flexibility, tunable band gap, high surface area, outstanding optoelectronic and mechanical properties, and adaptive surface chemistry, establish GO as a revolutionary nanomaterial with unprecedented technological potential. Recent developments demonstrate that standalone GO can exhibit notable performance across diverse scientific applications, showcasing its versatile nature and transformative capabilities. This review presents a holistic perspective on applications of GO in sustainable environmental remediation, including adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of micro/nano-plastics, pathogens, toxic substances, and volatile organic compounds. Additionally, GO demonstrates significant promise in sustainable energy storage and conversion through CO2 photoreduction, photocatalytic hydrogen production, organic synthesis transformations, and battery technologies. The review also explores GO-based platforms in advanced sensing technologies, including surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for ultra-sensitive detection of organic/biological molecules and environmental gas sensing, alongside healthcare applications. A major emphasis has been given on the role of GO as an emerging multifunctional and sustainable nanomaterial with significant real-world and industrial applications. Despite its significant potential, GO faces significant challenges, including scalability limitations, long-term stability concerns, and reproducibility/regeneration issues, which have been addressed with possible solutions, including health concerns for its sustainable futuristic applications.