Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite
The electrochemical exfoliation of graphite has been considered to be an effective approach for the mass production of high-quality graphene due to its easy, simple, and eco-friendly synthetic features. However, water dispersion of graphene produced in the electrochemical exfoliation method has also...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Chemistry |
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Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.699231/full |
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author | Si-Woo Park Si-Woo Park Byungkwon Jang Han Kim Jimin Lee Ji Young Park Sung-Oong Kang Yong-Ho Choa |
author_facet | Si-Woo Park Si-Woo Park Byungkwon Jang Han Kim Jimin Lee Ji Young Park Sung-Oong Kang Yong-Ho Choa |
author_sort | Si-Woo Park |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The electrochemical exfoliation of graphite has been considered to be an effective approach for the mass production of high-quality graphene due to its easy, simple, and eco-friendly synthetic features. However, water dispersion of graphene produced in the electrochemical exfoliation method has also been a challenging issue because of the hydrophobic properties of the resulting graphene. In this study, we report the electrochemical exfoliation method of producing water-dispersible graphene that importantly contains the relatively low oxygen content of <10% without any assistant dispersing agents. Through the mild in situ sulfate functionalization of graphite under alkaline electrochemical conditions using a pH buffer, the highly water-dispersible graphene could be produced without any additional separation processes of sedimentation and/or centrifugation. We found the resulting graphene sheets to have high crystalline basal planes, lateral sizes of several μm, and a thickness of <5 nm. Furthermore, the high aqueous dispersion stability of as-prepared graphene could be demonstrated using a multi-light scattering technique, showing very little change in the optical transmittance and the terbiscan stability index over time. |
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format | Article |
id | doaj.art-ddd688888d20420ab1966c44fb859aa0 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2296-2646 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-13T19:47:59Z |
publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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series | Frontiers in Chemistry |
spelling | doaj.art-ddd688888d20420ab1966c44fb859aa02022-12-21T23:33:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Chemistry2296-26462021-07-01910.3389/fchem.2021.699231699231Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of GraphiteSi-Woo Park0Si-Woo Park1Byungkwon Jang2Han Kim3Jimin Lee4Ji Young Park5Sung-Oong Kang6Yong-Ho Choa7Department of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaMExplorer Co., Ltd., Ansan, South KoreaDepartment of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaDepartment of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaDepartment of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaDepartment of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaMExplorer Co., Ltd., Ansan, South KoreaDepartment of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South KoreaThe electrochemical exfoliation of graphite has been considered to be an effective approach for the mass production of high-quality graphene due to its easy, simple, and eco-friendly synthetic features. However, water dispersion of graphene produced in the electrochemical exfoliation method has also been a challenging issue because of the hydrophobic properties of the resulting graphene. In this study, we report the electrochemical exfoliation method of producing water-dispersible graphene that importantly contains the relatively low oxygen content of <10% without any assistant dispersing agents. Through the mild in situ sulfate functionalization of graphite under alkaline electrochemical conditions using a pH buffer, the highly water-dispersible graphene could be produced without any additional separation processes of sedimentation and/or centrifugation. We found the resulting graphene sheets to have high crystalline basal planes, lateral sizes of several μm, and a thickness of <5 nm. Furthermore, the high aqueous dispersion stability of as-prepared graphene could be demonstrated using a multi-light scattering technique, showing very little change in the optical transmittance and the terbiscan stability index over time.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.699231/fullgraphenewater dispersionsulfate functionalizationelectrochemical exfoliationedge functionalization |
spellingShingle | Si-Woo Park Si-Woo Park Byungkwon Jang Han Kim Jimin Lee Ji Young Park Sung-Oong Kang Yong-Ho Choa Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite Frontiers in Chemistry graphene water dispersion sulfate functionalization electrochemical exfoliation edge functionalization |
title | Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite |
title_full | Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite |
title_fullStr | Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite |
title_full_unstemmed | Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite |
title_short | Highly Water-Dispersible Graphene Nanosheets From Electrochemical Exfoliation of Graphite |
title_sort | highly water dispersible graphene nanosheets from electrochemical exfoliation of graphite |
topic | graphene water dispersion sulfate functionalization electrochemical exfoliation edge functionalization |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.699231/full |
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