3. Overview of applications and future opportunities of GO

Many devices of GO overtake reference systems, for example, capacitors [4, 5], foldable electronic devices [6], translucent electrodes [7], biomedical applications [8], pollution management [9], sensors [10], H2-generation [9] and energy applications [11].

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

challenges and opportunities associated with GOs. Subject of interest in this chapter is explor-

Introductory Chapter: Graphene Oxide: Applications and Opportunities

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79640

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1 Kolhapur Institute of Technology's, College of Engineering (Autonomous), Kolhapur, India

[2] Croft RC. Lamellar compounds of graphite. Quarterly Reviews, Chemical Society. 1960;

[3] Hummers WS, Offeman RE. Preparation of graphite oxide. Journal of the American

[4] Huang Y, Liang J, Chen Y. An overview of the applications of graphene-based materials in

[5] Li J, Östling M. Prevention of graphene restacking for performance boost of supercapacitors.

[6] Chen H, Guo X. Field-effect transistors: Unique role of self-assembled monolayers in

[7] Eigler S. A new parameter based on graphene for characterizing transparent, conductive

[8] Chung C, Kim YK, Shin D, Ryoo SR, Hong BH, Min DH. Biomedical applications of graphene and graphene oxide. Accounts of Chemical Research. 2013;46:2211-2024

[9] Xie G, Zhang K, Guo B, Liu Q, Fang L, Gong JR. Graphene-based materials for hydrogen generation from light-driven water splitting. Advanced Materials. 2013;25:3820-3839

[10] Schedin F, Geim AK, Morozov SV, Hill EW, Blake P, Katsnelson MI, Novoselov KS. Detection of individual gas molecules adsorbed on graphene. Nature Materials. 2007;6:652-655

[11] Lü K, Zhao G, Wang X. A brief review of graphene-based material synthesis and its application in environmental pollution management. Chinese Science Bulletin. 2012;57:

carbon nanomaterial-based field-effect transistors. Small. 2013;9:1144-1159

2 Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, Hsinchu, Taiwan

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite\_oxide#History\_and\_preparation

ing opportunities and technologies related to energy, pure water and good health.

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
Author details

References

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Ganesh Shamrao Kamble1,2\*

Figure 1. Schematic representation of single layer graphene oxide with zig-zag and arm-chair edges.

Because of its honeycomb lattice with two carbon atoms per unit cell, graphene oxide shows an innumerable of exceptional chemical and physical properties. Due to the valence band and conduction band touch, the Brillouin zone corners [12] so as charge carriers in graphene behave like massless relativistic particles. Due to the delocalized out-of-plane π bonds arising from the sp2 hybridization carbon atoms, an unprecedented high carrier mobility of ≈200,000 cm2 V1 s 1 has been achieved for suspended graphene [13].

For the bulk production of GO, exfoliation is the most developed attractive method. The pristine graphite is converted into graphite oxide (GO sheets) by using a mixture of KMnO4 and concentrated H2SO4 [14–16]. In the oxidation of GO, large numbers of oxygen-containing functional groups such as epoxides, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups are attached onto the graphene basal plane and edges. Due to its hydrophilic nature, it is easily dispersed in water or polar organic solvents. The structural and electrical properties of pristine graphene are obtained by using reducing agents and thermal treatment, sodium borohydride [17], hydrazine [18] and thermal reduction [19, 20], respectively. Due to carcinogenic and highly toxic reducing agents property, in the recent years, reduction of GO is carried out by green reductants agents such as polyphenols of green tea, melatonin, vitamin C, bovine serum, albumin, sugars and even bacteria was also studied. Hydrothermal, solvothermal reduction, catalytic and photocatalytic reductions have also been developed. Furthermore, surfactant and boiling point of solvents also effect on GO.

At the current level of development, the properties and binding structure of graphene are important toward the recent applications. The knowledge produced by the systematic functionalization of graphene could be a much haunting basis for discovering the chemistry and nanomaterials.

Finally, GO and GO-based nanomaterials and its graphene derivatives are essential for future applications such as fuel cells, vivo sensors, supercapacitors, energy storage devices, and transparent electronics, which will undoubtedly improve when defined graphene derivatives are employed. Future technology expected that the full development and growth will depend only on graphene and its functionalized composite materials. This chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with GOs. Subject of interest in this chapter is exploring opportunities and technologies related to energy, pure water and good health.


**2. Aim**

The main aim of the study is to investigate and to collect data on the competences of healthcare workers, in addition to assessing the preparedness of hospitals for mass-casualty incidents. An additional aim is to use the data from this initial survey to design a more comprehensive analysis of disaster preparedness (preparedness is defined by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction as knowledge, capabilities and actions of governments, organizations, community groups and individuals "to e ffectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions), as well as new training and exercise models, which could improve the preparedness of health services for mass-casualty incidents and disasters.

#### **3. Materials and Methods**

#### *3.1. Test Site*

The study was conducted between 10 and 21 February 2020 at Public University Hospital No. 1 (polish SPSK No. 1) in Lublin. This hospital was selected as one of the largest hospitals in the Lublin region, and for this reason, it was chosen for the pilot study. SPSK No. 1 has a total of about 550 beds (including chemotherapy beds). It employs about 1600 people (including doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, as well as administration, technical, cleaning and service personnel). According to the latest data provided by the hospital, the number of hospitalizations for the academic year of 2017–2018 was about 40,000 cases, and the number of surgical procedures performed was about 19,000. The average time of hospitalization was 4.4 days.

## *3.2. Population Studied*

The quantitative pilot study was conducted in the form of an anonymous questionnaire on a random sample of 134 healthcare workers, which account for 11.1% of the total number of employed healthcare workers at SPSK 1. More than half of them were women (56%). Men, on the other hand, constituted 44% of the research group. The respondents were mostly people with over 20 years of service (41.8%), while less frequently they had 6–10 years of service (19.4%), 0–5 years (16.4%), 11–15 years (12.7%) or 16–20 years (9.7%). Doctors (41.8%) and nurses (46.3%) represented the highest proportion of the study group, whereas 11.9% of respondents were paramedics.

#### *3.3. Study Design*

An extensive analysis of literature, and then the arrangement of the acquired knowledge through categorization and knowledge mapping, led to the development of a research tool in the form of a close-ended questions questionnaire. A qualitative method was used to verify the research tool and the questionnaire was tested on a sample of 10 people in order to check whether the respondents understood the questions it contained and whether the respondents reacted to some questions. This group was then excluded from the pilot study and their answers were not included in the final analysis. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that the time required to complete it did not exceed 15 min.

#### *3.4. Type of Study*

In the pilot study, an original questionnaire was available in both paper and online versions, and contained 18 closed questions and two additional descriptive questions. The respondents were asked about their own competences, experience, courses, and training completed, as well as knowledge about preparedness of the workplace for mass-casualty incidents. Respondents were also asked to rate their own preparedness on a scale from 1 to 10, as well as the preparedness of the hospital in which they worked, for mass-casualty incidents.

#### *3.5. Data Analysis*

Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. Frequency analyses, analysis of basic descriptive statistics, correlation analysis using Spearman's rho coefficient, the chi square test of independence, the Student's t-test for dependent samples, a one-way analysis of variance, and a Student's t-test for independent samples in addition to Mann Whitney's test were performed. The level of statistical significance was set at the classic level of α = 0.05.

#### *3.6. Ethical Considerations*

The study is not a medical experiment and legally does not require the approval of the Bioethics Committee.