Sulfur-functionalized graphene oxide by epoxide ring-opening.

The treatment of graphene oxide (GO) with potassium thioacetate followed by an aqueous work-up yields a new material via the ring-opening of the epoxide groups. The new material is a thiol-functionalized GO (GO-SH) which is able to undergo further functionalization. Reaction with butyl bromide gives another new material, GO-SBu, which shows significantly enhanced thermal stability compared to both GO and GO-SH. The thiol-functionalized GO material showed a high affinity for gold, as demonstrated by the selective deposition of a high density of gold nanoparticles.