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High-yield production of graphene flakes using a novel electrochemical/mechanical hybrid exfoliation

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Abstract

This research aims to develop a novel hybrid process of an electrochemical intercalation and mechanical exfoliation for fabricating graphene flakes. Using a rotational tool as electrode, the graphite powders were electrochemically intercalated using ions in electrolyte, and then the expanded graphite powders were mechanically exfoliated for few-layer graphene flakes. To obtain the high-quality graphene flakes, the graphite powders were intercalated in the mixed electrolyte of myristyl alcohol surfactant added in H2SO4 solution at the speed of the rotational tool of 2000 rpm and the applied voltage of ± 4 V for 1 h, and then the expanded graphite powders were mechanically exfoliated at the speed of the rotational tool of 10000 rpm for 1 h. The average thickness and lateral size of the graphene flakes was 1.42 nm and 0.5 μm measured by an atomic force microscope, respectively. The maximum C/O and I2D/IG ratios of graphene flakes were 22.29 and 1.22 analyzed by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscope and a Raman spectrometer, respectively. Besides, the production yield of the exfoliated few-layer graphene flakes was evaluated that could achieve to 20%, which was approximately 2 times more than the pure electrochemical or pure mechanical exfoliation methods.

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Funding

We thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan for financially supporting this research under projects MOST 107-2221-E-027-129-MY2 and MOST 107-2622-E-027-019-CC3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 10610, Taiwan

    Tun-Ping Teng & Sheng-Chang Chang

  2. Department of Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 10610, Taiwan

    Zi-Ying Chen, Chun-Kai Huang & Chii-Rong Yang

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, 10608, Taiwan

    Shih-Feng Tseng

Authors
  1. Tun-Ping Teng
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  2. Sheng-Chang Chang
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  3. Zi-Ying Chen
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  4. Chun-Kai Huang
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  5. Shih-Feng Tseng
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  6. Chii-Rong Yang
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Correspondence to Shih-Feng Tseng or Chii-Rong Yang.

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Teng, TP., Chang, SC., Chen, ZY. et al. High-yield production of graphene flakes using a novel electrochemical/mechanical hybrid exfoliation. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 104, 2751–2760 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-04158-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-04158-3

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