Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is the form of GO that is processed by chemical, thermal and other methods in order to reduce the oxygen content, while graphite oxide is a material produced by oxidation of graphite which leads to increased interlayer spacing and functionalization of the basal planes of graphite.

Graphene oxide is a unique material that is a single monomolecular layer of graphite with various oxygen containing functionalities such as epoxide, carbonyl, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups.

When the electrically insulating graphene oxide is reduced it resembles graphene but contains residual oxygen and other heteroatoms as well as structural defects. This form is called reduced graphene oxide rGO.

Graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide can be used in electronic devices, nanocomposite materials, polymer composite materials, energy storage, biomedical applications and catalysis. When we compare graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide we can see some differences between them. The advantage of reduced graphene oxide has over graphene is that it can be stored longer without agglomeration. Reduced graphene oxide is more stable in organic solvents. Also reduced graphene oxide is conductive whereas graphene oxide is not conductive and isn’t as strong.

Reduced graphene oxides has an important role in electronics. Reduced graphene oxide can be used in light emitting diodes and solar cell devices. For both of these materials visible light transparent electrodes are so important. Using reduced graphene oxide as a transparent electrode is a convenient alternative to other transparent electrodes for these devices. In addition to being a transparent electrode, reduced graphene oxide has been used as a hole transport layer in polymer solar cells and LEDs.

When we look at the other application areas of reduced graphene oxide we can see it can be used as high capacity energy storage in lithium ion batteries. In these applications, electrically insulating metal oxide nanoparticles/nanopowder are adsorbed onto reduced graphene oxide to increase the performance of these materials in batteries. So it can be said that the high surface area reduced graphene oxide is useful as an energy storage material in supercapacitors.

Reduced graphene oxides can also be used in biosensors. In many researches reduced graphene oxide have been used as components in several systems designed to detect biologically relevant molecules.