Electronic, electrical and magnetic properties of graphene oxide functionalized with gold and iron nanoparticles

Abstract

In the current project, GO was synthesized and functionalized with gold and iron oxide nanoparticles. Several characterization techniques were performed to study the change in the microstructural, electronic, electrical and magnetic properties of rGO due to functionalization. The obtained results from the study showed weak ferromagnetic and superparamagnetic features for rGO:Au-NP and supermagnetism for rGO-ATAFe 2O3 nanocomposites. The source of the observed magnetic features were mainly attributed to defects induced into rGO by oxygen moieties, Au and Fe atoms bonding on the edge and basal planes of GO. The charge storage behavior and magnetic properties of rGO:Au-NP composite indicate that the material can be useful for applications in ferro-electric and memory devices. The rGO:Fe2O3 nanocomposite can find potential in magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent application due to the observed superparamagnetic properties.