Graphene Is U generally fabricated in one of two ways: as very high quality sheets produced in limited quantities by micromechanical cleavage or vapor growth or as a rather defective, graphene-like material, graphene oxide, produced in large quantities. However, a growing kinase inhibitor GSK256066 number of applications would profit from the availability of a method to produce high-quality graphene in large quantities.

This Account describes recent work to develop such a processing route inspired by previous theoretical and experimental studies on the solvent dispersion of carbon nanotubes. That work had shown that nanotubes could be effectively dispersed in solvents whose surface energy matched that of the nanotubes. We describe the application of the same approach to the exfoliation of graphite to give graphene in a range of solvents.

When graphite powder is exposed to ultrasonication in the presence of a suitable solvent, the powder fragments into nanosheets, which are stabilized against aggregation by the solvent. The enthalpy of mixing is minimized for solvents Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries with surface energies dose to that of graphene (similar to 68 mJ/m(2)). The exfoliated nanosheets are free Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries of defects and oxides and can be produced in large quantities. Once solvent exfoliation is possible, the process can be optimized and the nanosheets can be separated by size. The use of surfactants can also stabilize exfoliated graphene in water, where the zeta potential of the surfactant-coated graphene nanosheets controls the dispersed concentration.

Liquid exfoliated graphene can be used for a range of applications: graphene dispersions as optical limiters, films of graphene flakes as transparent conductors or sensors, and exfoliated graphene as a mechanical reinforcement for polymer-based Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries composites. Finally, we have extended this process to exfoliate other layered compounds such as BN and MoS2. Such materials will be Important in a range of applications from thermoelectrics to battery electrodes. This liquid exfoliation technique can be applied to a wide range of materials and has the potential to be scaled up into an Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries industrial process. We believe the coming decade will see an explosion in the applications involving liquid exfoliated two-dimensional materials.”
“Graphene, a true wonder material, is the newest member of the nanocarbon family. The continuous network of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms gives rise to exceptional Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties, which extra resources could result In the application of graphene in next generation electronic components, energy-storage materials such as capacitors and batteries, polymer nanocomposites, transparent conducting electrodes, and mechanical resonators.