The influence of graphene on silver oxide synthesis through microwave assisted method

Silver oxide (Ag₂O) modified by graphene with different graphene addition (0, 0.2, 0.7, and 1 weight percent (wt.%)) were synthesized using microwave assisted method. Structural properties of the samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD result shows that Ag₂O nanoparticles have cubic structure with cell length a=b=c around 4.731 nm. The addition of graphene resulted in the formation of silver (Ag) nanoparticles with cubic structure with cell length around 4.090 nm. The higher graphene loading resulted in the higher peak intensity of Ag nanoparticles. The UV-Vis spectroscopy was used in order to detect the existence of surface plasmon resonance from Ag. The surface plasmon resonance from Ag was detected around 400 nm and was found increase with increasing of graphene addition. The Thermogravimetric Analysis and Differential Thermal Analysis (TGA/DTA) was used to investigate the thermal degradation process of materials. The thermal degradation around 400°C which exhibits exothermic process could be due to the phase transformation from Ag₂O nanoparticles into Ag nanoparticles. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the structure of graphene. The D and G band of graphene were observed which indicate there is a defect in the structural properties of graphene.