High-Efficiency Production of Large-Size Few-Layer Graphene Platelets via Pulsed Discharge of Graphite Strips.

Xin Gao,Shigeru Tanaka,Zemin Sheng,Kaiyuan Liu,Kazuyuki Hokamoto,Meng Xu,Shunsuke Ohmagari,Pengwan Chen,Tomomasa Hiraoka

doi:10.3390/nano9121785

Xin Gao, Shigeru Tanaka + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9121785

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Abstract

The synthesis of large-size graphene materials is still a central focus of research into additional potential applications in various areas. In this study, large-size graphene platelets were successfully produced by pulsed discharge of loose graphite strips with a dimension of 2 mm × 0.5 mm × 80 mm in distilled water. The graphite strips were made by pressing and cutting well-oriented expanded graphite paper. The recovered samples were characterized by various techniques, including TEM, SEM, optical microscopy (OM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), XRD and Raman spectroscopy. Highly crystalline graphene platelets with a lateral dimension of 100–200 μm were identified. The high yield of recovered graphene platelets is in a range of 90–95%. The results also indicate that increasing charging voltage improves the yield of graphene platelets and decreases the number of graphitic layers in produced graphene platelets. The formation mechanism of graphene platelets was discussed. This study provides a one-step cost-effective route to prepare highly crystalline graphene platelets with a sub-millimeter lateral size.

Highlights

Graphene, firstly synthesized by Noveselov et al [1] in 2004, has been proved as a wonderful future material with plenty of applications [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The recovered samples were characterized by various techniques, including TEM, SEM, optical microscopy (OM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), XRD and Raman spectroscopy
The results indicate that increasing charging voltage improves the yield of graphene platelets and decreases the number of graphitic layers in produced graphene platelets

Summary

Introduction

Firstly synthesized by Noveselov et al [1] in 2004, has been proved as a wonderful future material with plenty of applications [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. A great deal of research has suggested multiple applications of graphene in areas such as field effect transistors [1,18], sensors [19,20], metal-free electrodes [21,22], energy storage [23], biomedical applications [24], etc. In much of the research conducted on graphene, one central focus is to synthesize large-size graphene materials for a higher potential application in the areas of electronics, solar energy devices, and mechanical structures [28,29,30]. Ruse et al [25] demonstrated that graphene with a large size increases the hydrogen storage of Mg/graphene nanocomposite by bridging Mg nanoparticles. Zhang et al [31] synthesized large area uniform graphene film consisting of 1–30 μm graphene platelets to replace indium tin oxide (ITO) as flexible, transparent conductive film

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