High-efficiency exfoliation of large-area mono-layer graphene oxide with controlled dimension

In this work, we introduce a novel and facile method of exfoliating large-area, single-layer graphene oxide using a shearing stress. The shearing stress reactor consists of two concentric cylinders, where the inner cylinder rotates at controlled speed while the outer cylinder is kept stationary. We found that the formation of Taylor vortex flow with shearing stress can effectively exfoliate the graphite oxide, resulting in large-area single- or few-layer graphene oxide (GO) platelets with high yields (>90%) within 60 min of reaction time. Moreover, the lateral size of exfoliated GO sheets was readily tunable by simply controlling the rotational speed of the reactor and reaction time. Our approach for high-efficiency exfoliation of GO with controlled dimension may find its utility in numerous industrial applications including energy storage, conducting composite, electronic device, and supporting frameworks of catalyst

Three-Dimensional Graphene Nano-Networks with High Quality and Mass Production Capability via Precursor-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

We report a novel approach to synthesize chemical vapor deposition-grown three-dimensional graphene nano-networks (3D-GNs) that can be mass produced with large-area coverage. Annealing of a PVA/iron precursor under a hydrogen environment, infiltrated into 3D-assembled-colloidal silicas reduces iron ions and generates few-layer graphene by precipitation of carbon on the iron surface. The 3D-GN can be grown on any electronic device-compatible substrate, such as Al2O3, Si, GaN, or Quartz. The conductivity and surface area of a 3D-GN are 52 S/cm and 1,025 m(2)/g, respectively, which are much better than the previously reported values. Furthermore, electrochemical double-layer capacitors based on the 3D-GN have superior supercapacitor performance with a specific capacitance of 245 F/g and 96.5% retention after 6,000 cycles due to the outstanding conductivity and large surface area. The excellent performance of the 3D-GN as an electrode for supercapacitors suggests the great potential of interconnected graphene networks in nano-electronic devices and energy-related materials.open15