Effect of reaction temperature and concentration of H2SO4 acid in the unzipping process of carbon nanotubes to form graphene nanoribbons

Abstract

Unzipping carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is one of the methods to produce graphene nanoribbons. In this research, we investigated the effect of reaction temperature and concentration of H2SO4 acid on graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) formation. By increasing the reaction temperature, the transformation of CNTs to form GNRs is getting better. The results showed that the unzipping process was strongly affected by temperature. At 100 °C temperature, GNRs obtained 100% yield with a purity of +99%C and surface area of 250 m2/g. Furthermore, H2SO4 acid is the only environment for the wet chemical reaction, it doesn’t affect GNRs quality so the low concentration of acid will be utilized and contribute to reducing the environmental impact in the world. The GNRs will be a potential material for both anode and cathode in batteries and supercapacitors to get higher energy density and fast charging properties.