Synthesis of Metal-Carbon Composite Composed of Expanded Graphite and Nanometal

Abstract

Composites between metal nanoparticles and inorganic substrates have attracted wide attention because of their potential to yield desirable properties coming from different nano scale building blocks that possess specific mechanical, optical, electronic, or physical properties. The synthesis of valuable composites is a desirable approach to exploring their properties and applications. It is of critical interest if metal nanoparticles can be integrated with carbon-based materials to form a composite. Among the metal nanoparticle composites, it is desirable to explore the creation of synergy effects between expanded graphite (EG) and metal nanoparticles. We proposed a simple approach for the synthesis of EG/Ag nanoparticle composites by the chemical reduction of Ag ions followed by the addition of EG to the solution. We demonstrated that the EG/Ag nanoparticle composites had uniform dispersion of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of EG. In this study, we performed and evaluated the synthesis of EG/Ag nanoparticle composites by chemical reduction of Ag ions in a reductive solution. The Ag nanoparticle size, the dispersion profile on the EG and other properties are reported according to the process conditions. We measured and discussed the thermal properties of the composites.