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Finding a facile way to exfoliate graphite electrochemically for energy storage device application

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Abstract

The process of making single-layer graphene is encumbered by price and includes hazardous chemicals. The graphite layers, which are weakly bonded by van der Waals force, can be Segregated or exfoliated into less than three layers via mechanical or chemical exfoliation. The electrochemical exfoliation of graphite is eco-friendly, affordable, and straightforward. Various types of electrolytes can be used to perform this process, but here we have taken 1 molar ammonium sulfate solution in deionized water which incorporates a trace of sulfur into the graphene layers as well. This sulfur-doped material forms a composite type structure (EG/sulfur) where the amount of sulfur can be increased via further processing and the sulfur absorption makes this exfoliated graphite different from the chemically exfoliated graphite. We have performed an electrochemical exfoliation of graphite in ammonium sulfate solution in different voltage conditions and 12 V was found to be an ideal voltage during the exfoliation and to produce two- to three-layer graphene.

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The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thankfully acknowledge DST-PURSE (PHASE-II) for its financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, 470003, India

    Sunil Soni, Anubha Sodhiya, Shwetambar Patel, Sandhya Patel & Ranveer Kumar

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  1. Sunil Soni
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  2. Anubha Sodhiya
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  3. Shwetambar Patel
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  4. Sandhya Patel
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  5. Ranveer Kumar
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Correspondence to Sunil Soni.

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Soni, S., Sodhiya, A., Patel, S. et al. Finding a facile way to exfoliate graphite electrochemically for energy storage device application. MRS Advances 6, 594–598 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-021-00130-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-021-00130-0

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