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A high-yield and size-controlled production of graphene by optimizing fluid forces

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Abstract

Efficient graphene production is critical for commercial applications. Liquid-phase exfoliation, one of the most promising methods for mass production of graphene, is limited by small size and low yield. By optimizing the fluid forces, we have achieved the size-controlled production of high-quality graphene. The bending and cleavage caused by the collision promote cavitation and shear exfoliation. High-aspect-ratio graphene has an average area of ~ 1.5μm2 and a thickness of ~ 1.5 nm. Simultaneously, the dispersion concentration of small size graphene (average area ~ 0.6μm2) is 0.17 mg mL−1, while the yield and efficiency reach 30% and 15%·h−1, respectively, through recycling sediment (initial concentration: 1 mg mL−1). Furthermore, the binary solvent of isopropanol and water is eco-friendly, low boiling, cost-effective. Jet collision can also be applied for exfoliation of other two-dimensional materials such as h-BN. This finding is essential for optimizing the design of liquid-phase exfoliation devices to obtain appropriate size and yield.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (YWF-22-L-1219) and the Special Funds for Co-construction Project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (25500002016105002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory for Powder Technology Research and Development, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Youchang Wang, Xiaojing Zhang, Zhigang Shen, Kai Li & Yuwei Zhu

  2. School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Youchang Wang, Xiaojing Zhang, Zhigang Shen, Kai Li & Yuwei Zhu

  3. Danyang Research Institute, Beihang University, Danyang, 212300, China

    Lei Liu

  4. College of Aerospace Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), Nanjing, 210016, China

    Min Yi

  5. State Key Lab of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures and Key Lab for Intelligent Nano Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Min Yi

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  1. Youchang Wang
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  2. Xiaojing Zhang
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  3. Lei Liu
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Contributions

Youchang Wang helped in conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. Xiaojing Zhang contributed to validation, investigation, writing—review & editing. Lei Liu performed methodology, supervision, visualization. Min Yi was involved in writing—review & editing. Zhigang Shen helped in conceptualization, resources, funding acquisition. Kai Li helped in data curation, investigation. Yuwei Zhu was involved in conceptualization, methodology.

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Correspondence to Xiaojing Zhang.

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Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Liu, L. et al. A high-yield and size-controlled production of graphene by optimizing fluid forces. J Mater Sci 58, 13946–13956 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08897-3

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