Revisiting the Structure of Graphene Oxide for Preparing New-Style Graphene-Based Ultraviolet Absorbers

Despite sustained effort over the years, the exploration of an effective strategy toward understanding the structure and properties of graphene oxide (GO) is still highly desirable. Herein, a facile route to revisit the structure of GO is demonstrated by elucidating its chemical-conversion process solely in the presence of ammonia. Such a strategy can contribute to settling some arguments in recent models of GO, and also offers a prerequisite to identify critical components that can act as ultraviolet absorbers (UVAs) in resulting dispersions of nitrogen-doped graphene sheets (NGSs). Inspired by this, for the first time, the performance of NGSs, serving as new-style UVAs, is investigated through directly assessing the effect of NGSs on the photofastness of azo dyes (Food Black). These studies reveal that, distinct from the common understanding, the as-prepared NGSs can dramatically enhance the photostability of Food Black under UV irradiation and exhibit greatly applied potential as a multifunctional UVA for new-generation inkjet inks that can simultaneously integrate the advantages of dye-based and pigment-based inks.