Efficient preparation of highly hydrogenated graphene and its application as a high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries.

A novel method has been developed to prepare hydrogenated graphene (HG) via a direct synchronized reduction and hydrogenation of graphene oxide (GO) in an aqueous suspension under (60)Co gamma ray irradiation at room temperature. GO can be reduced by the aqueous electrons (e(aq)(-)) while the hydrogenation takes place due to the hydrogen radicals formed in situ under irradiation. The maximum hydrogen content of the as-prepared highly hydrogenated graphene (HHG) is found to be 5.27 wt% with H/C = 0.76. The yield of the target product is on the gram scale. The as-prepared HHG also shows high performance as an anode material for lithium ion batteries. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012