Chemically modified graphene (CMG) is of interest for electrodes for fuel cells and for sensors. Different production methods of CMG lead to different amounts of surface defects and oxygen functionalities. These play a large role in the electrochemistry of CMGs, so identification of preparation methods that offer the best electrochemical performance is important.

Martin Pumera and co-workers, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, have compared the electrochemistry of graphite oxide, graphene oxide, thermally reduced graphene oxide, chemically reduced graphene oxide, and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide. They found that thermally reduced graphene oxide, which has the highest density of structural defects and the lowest amount of oxygen-containing groups, gave the best electrochemical performance and is the optimal material for electrochemical devices.

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• Electrochemistry at Chemically Modified Graphenes
  A. Ambrosi, A. Bonanni, Z. Sofer, J. S. Cross, M. Pumera,
  Chem. Eur. J. 2011.
  DOI: 10.1002/chem.201101117