Facile one-pot synthesis of fluorinated graphene oxide for electrochemical sensing of heavy metal ions

Doping and functionalization could significantly assist in the improvement of the electrochemical properties of graphene derivatives. Herein, we report a one-pot synthesis of fluorinated graphene oxide (FGO) from graphite. The surface morphology, functionalities and composition of the resulting FGO have been studied using various surface characterization techniques, revealing that layer-structured nanosheets with ~ 1.0 at.% F were formed. The carbon bound F exhibited semi-ionic bonding characteristic and significantly increased the capacitance of FGO compared to GO. Further, the FGO has been employed for the simultaneous detection of heavy metal ions Cd^2 +, Pb^2 +, Cu^2 + and Hg^2 + using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry; and a substantial improvement in the electrochemical sensing performance is achieved in comparison with GO.