An ecologically friendly process for graphene exfoliation based on the "hydrodynamic cavitation on a chip" concept. Issue 29 (18th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jafarpour, Mohammad; Aghdam, Araz Sheibani; Gevari, Moein Talebian; Koşar, Ali; Bayazıt, Mustafa Kemal; Ghorbani, Morteza
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 11:Issue 29(2021)
• Page Start: 17965
• Page End: 17975
• Publication Date: 2021-05-18
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/d1ra03352b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : LPE of graphene with a hydrodynamic cavitation microreactor is a totally green process which involves only natural graphite flakes and water. Abstract : Tremendous research efforts have recently focused on the synthesis of graphene from graphitic materials, while environmental issues, scalability, and cost are some of the major challenges to be surmounted. Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of graphene is one of the principal methods for this synthesis. Nevertheless, sufficient information about the mechanisms of exfoliation has yet to emerge. Here, a microreactor based on the hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) on a chip concept is introduced to exfoliate graphite in a totally green process which involves only natural graphite flakes and water. HC-treated graphitic materials were characterized by UV-Vis and Raman spectroscopy, DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering), AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy), and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) analyses. The present sustainable reactor system was found to exfoliate thick and large graphite particles to nano-sized sheets (∼1.2 nm) with a lateral size of ∼500 nm to 5 μm.