Exploration of bio-inspired synthetic polymer in graphene derivative (rGO) synthesis

Graphene and its derivatives have various uses. Reduced graphite oxide (rGO), a derivative of graphene, has a ton of applications, where it is used in biological applications, energy storage, and many more. Using rGO in this way requires large-scale production, and the traditional way of chemically reducing GO is by using a cheap reducing reagent such as Hydrazine. Hydrazine is a very efficient reducing agent in this case, but it is highly toxic. Using such a reagent limits the uses of rGO in the bio-medical field due to the reagent's toxicity, so a greener alternative is highly sought. Recently, we developed a chemical synthesis pathway for reducing GO using a bioinspired synthetic polymer (Silk-inspired polymer).