ABSTRACT
The field of nanotechnology has advanced following the discovery of a
two-dimensional material of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms, graphene in
2004 by Geim and Novoselov. Graphene has received so much attention due to its
exceptional electronic, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties in addition
to its large surface area and single-atom thickness. This has led to the
discovery of several techniques to obtain graphene such as chemical exfoliation,
chemical vapor deposition (CVD), chemical synthesis etc. However, these
techniques are majorly challenged with developing graphene with fewer defects and in large scale; thus,
there is an increasing need to produce graphene in large quantities with high
quality. Several studies have been carried
out to find routes to producing high-quality graphene. This paper focuses
majorly on the synthesis and fabrication methods of producing graphene and its
derivative, graphene oxide. Characterization techniques to
identify graphene such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), Raman spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) used to determine
number of layers, quality, atomic structures, and defects in graphene is also
briefly discussed. This article also covers a short description of graphene applications
in transparent electrodes, composites and energy storage devices.