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Processable aqueous dispersions of graphene nanosheets

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Abstract

Graphene sheets offer extraordinary electronic, thermal and mechanical properties and are expected to find a variety of applications. A prerequisite for exploiting most proposed applications for graphene is the availability of processable graphene sheets in large quantities. The direct dispersion of hydrophobic graphite or graphene sheets in water without the assistance of dispersing agents has generally been considered to be an insurmountable challenge. Here we report that chemically converted graphene sheets obtained from graphite can readily form stable aqueous colloids through electrostatic stabilization. This discovery has enabled us to develop a facile approach to large-scale production of aqueous graphene dispersions without the need for polymeric or surfactant stabilizers. Our findings make it possible to process graphene materials using low-cost solution processing techniques, opening up enormous opportunities to use this unique carbon nanostructure for many technological applications.

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Figure 1: Scheme showing the chemical route to the synthesis of aqueous graphene dispersions.
Figure 2: Surface properties of GO and CCG.
Figure 3: Colloidal and morphological characterization of CCG dispersions.
Figure 4: UV-vis absorption spectra showing the change of GO dispersions as a function of reaction time.
Figure 5: Examples demonstrating that films made of CCG sheets can be easily fabricated from CCG dispersions using various solution-phase processing techniques.

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Acknowledgements

D.L. and G.G.W. acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council. R.B.K. thanks the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia

    Dan Li, Marc B. Müller & Gordon G. Wallace

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-1569, California, USA

    Scott Gilje & Richard B. Kaner

Authors
  1. Dan Li
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  2. Marc B. Müller
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  3. Scott Gilje
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  4. Richard B. Kaner
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  5. Gordon G. Wallace
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Contributions

D.L. conceived and designed the experiments, R.B.K. and G.G.W. were involved in discussions on the design and interpretation of the experiments, and D.L., M.B.M. and S.G. performed the experiments. D.L., R.B.K. and G.G.W. co-wrote the paper. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dan Li or Gordon G. Wallace.

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Supplementary information and supplementary table S1 (PDF 171 kb)

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Li, D., Müller, M., Gilje, S. et al. Processable aqueous dispersions of graphene nanosheets. Nature Nanotech 3, 101–105 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.451

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.451

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