Synthesis of High Quality Few Layer Graphene from the Exfoliation of Graphite

Abstract

The emergence of graphene in the scientific community has been the cause of much excitement among material scientists and physicists due to its potential applications in many aspects. Despite its unusual physical and chemical properties, the much sought after monolayer graphene has proven to be difficult to produce in sufficient quantities, with most processes outputting high layer or even defect ridden graphene instead. This experiment aims to correct this problem, concerning itself with the synthesis of high quality graphene through continuous sonication with surfactant added throughout, as well as the issue of graphene quality as a function of sonication time. This was accomplished through the creation and addition of a Triton X-100 surfactant solution to a graphite suspension during sonication lasting for 50 minutes, 80 minutes, 110 minutes, 140 minutes, 170 minutes, and 200 minutes respectively. The resulting suspension was then filtrated to separate out the graphene, before being tested for quality through Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. It was revealed that graphite had been exfoliated into few layer graphene after a short sonication time (less than 50 minutes). And the quality of graphene was improved with the sonication time increased, indicated by the reduced number of graphene layers. This completely physical method of graphene synthesis provides a simple way to achieve the highly desired few layer graphene, and will hopefully allow for greater use of graphene in industry and its implementation into new technology.