Investigation of sulfuric acid intercalation into thermally expanded graphite in order to optimize the synthesis of electrochemical graphene oxide

Abstract

This paper is devoted to a detailed study of the electrochemical intercalation of sulfuric acid into the foil structure based on thermally expanded graphite, as the decisive stage in the process of producing electrochemical graphene oxide. In the work, the potentials of individual areas of anodic polarization were determined, passing without destroying the carbon electrode. The diffusion control characteristic of the entire range of intercalation potentials is shown. The effective capacities, characteristic times, and acid consumption for the electrochemical intercalation process are evaluated. The minimum termination potential of the intercalation process is found. It is shown that limiting the anodic polarization of thermally expanded graphite at the minimum potential for the termination of intercalation can significantly reduce the energy consumption of the entire method for producing electrochemical graphene oxide. A comparison is made of electrochemical graphene oxide with graphene oxide, obtained by a modified Hammers method, by a number of physicochemical methods.