Revisiting the Structure of Graphene Oxide for Preparing New‐Style Graphene‐Based Ultraviolet Absorbers

Abstract Despite sustained effort over the years, the exploration of an effective strategy toward understanding the structure and properties of graphene oxide (GO) is still highly desirable. Herein, a facile route to revisit the structure of GO is demonstrated by elucidating its chemical‐conversion process solely in the presence of ammonia. Such a strategy can contribute to settling some arguments in recent models of GO, and also offers a prerequisite to identify critical components that can act as ultraviolet absorbers (UVAs) in resulting dispersions of nitrogen‐doped graphene sheets (NGSs). Inspired by this, for the first time, the performance of NGSs, serving as new‐style UVAs, is investigated through directly assessing the effect of NGSs on the photofastness of azo dyes (Food Black). These studies reveal that, distinct from the common understanding, the as‐prepared NGSs can dramatically enhance the photostability of Food Black under UV irradiation and exhibit greatly applied potential as a multifunctional UVA for new‐generation inkjet inks that can simultaneously integrate the advantages of dye‐based and pigment‐based inks.