▎ 摘　　要

This manuscript presents the amino acid mediated functionalization and reduction of graphene oxide (GO) using an environmentally friendly method producing N-doped graphene. The reduction of GO by 2-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) and glycine occurs efficiently under both acidic and mild basic pH conditions. A relatively fast reduction by AIB at pH 10.5 (3 h) compared to that at pH 4.5 (7 h) has been attributed to the increased nucteophilicity of amino and carboxyl groups. Atomic force and electron microscopic studies show the formation of graphene sheets. Selected area electron diffraction analysis and high resolution transmission electron microscopy suggest the crystalline nature of these sheets and their in-plane lattice constant was estimated to be 0.24 nm. The optical, infrared (IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS) indicate the reduction of GO to graphene, whereas IR, Raman and XPS suggest the functionalization of reduced GO. An increase in the /(D)/l(G) ratio for GRH-AIB (1.02) compared to GO (0.89) suggests an increase in the microstructural disorder of reduced GO possibly involving the introduction of some sp(3) defects upon functionalization. A mechanism for the functionalization and reduction of GO by amino acids is discussed. Different applications of N-doped graphene are suggested.