[Abstract]

We report the theory and synthesis of sub-nanosized gold clusters on reduced graphene oxide (r-GOs). The Au sub-nanoclusters were found to be nucleated and grown at defects of the r-GOs, particularly on nitrogen-induced defects from density functional theory investigation. The resulting Au/r-GOs exhibit an improvement of bulk electrical conductivities and a reduced ratio of the intensity of the D band to that of the G band (ID/IG), compared to the r-GOs without Au nanoclusters. The unique decrease of the ID/IG was demonstrated to be related to the filling of subnano-sized Au clusters on the r-GOs, presumably owing to enhancing the flat geometry of the graphene nanosheets.